Quantum decoherence of phonons in Bose-Einstein condensates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Howl, Richard; Sabín, Carlos; Hackermüller, Lucia; Fuentes, Ivette

2018-01-01

We apply modern techniques from quantum optics and quantum information science to Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in order to study, for the first time, the quantum decoherence of phonons of isolated BECs. In the last few years, major advances in the manipulation and control of phonons have highlighted their potential as carriers of quantum information in quantum technologies, particularly in quantum processing and quantum communication. Although most of these studies have focused on trapped ion and crystalline systems, another promising system that has remained relatively unexplored is BECs. The potential benefits in using this system have been emphasized recently with proposals of relativistic quantum devices that exploit quantum states of phonons in BECs to achieve, in principle, superior performance over standard non-relativistic devices. Quantum decoherence is often the limiting factor in the practical realization of quantum technologies, but here we show that quantum decoherence of phonons is not expected to heavily constrain the performance of these proposed relativistic quantum devices.

Scalable quantum computation scheme based on quantum-actuated nuclear-spin decoherence-free qubits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Lihong; Rong, Xing; Geng, Jianpei; Shi, Fazhan; Li, Zhaokai; Duan, Changkui; Du, Jiangfeng

2017-11-01

We propose a novel theoretical scheme of quantum computation. Nuclear spin pairs are utilized to encode decoherence-free (DF) qubits. A nitrogen-vacancy center serves as a quantum actuator to initialize, readout, and quantum control the DF qubits. The realization of CNOT gates between two DF qubits are also presented. Numerical simulations show high fidelities of all these processes. Additionally, we discuss the potential of scalability. Our scheme reduces the challenge of classical interfaces from controlling and observing complex quantum systems down to a simple quantum actuator. It also provides a novel way to handle complex quantum systems.

Nonequilibrium distribution functions in electron transport: decoherence, energy redistribution and dissipation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stegmann, Thomas; Ujsághy, Orsolya; Wolf, Dietrich E.

2018-04-01

A new statistical model for the combined effects of decoherence, energy redistribution and dissipation on electron transport in large quantum systems is introduced. The essential idea is to consider the electron phase information to be lost only at randomly chosen regions with an average distance corresponding to the decoherence length. In these regions the electron's energy can be unchanged or redistributed within the electron system or dissipated to a heat bath. The different types of scattering and the decoherence leave distinct fingerprints in the energy distribution functions. They can be interpreted as a mixture of unthermalized and thermalized electrons. In the case of weak decoherence, the fraction of thermalized electrons show electrical and thermal contact resistances. In the regime of incoherent transport the proposed model is equivalent to a Boltzmann equation. The model is applied to experiments with carbon nanotubes. The excellent agreement of the model with the experimental data allows to determine the scattering lengths of the system.

Decoherence in quantum lossy systems: superoperator and matrix techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yazdanpanah, Navid; Tavassoly, Mohammad Kazem; Moya-Cessa, Hector Manuel

2017-06-01

Due to the unavoidably dissipative interaction between quantum systems with their environments, the decoherence flows inevitably into the systems. Therefore, to achieve a better understanding on how decoherence affects on the damped systems, a fundamental investigation of master equation seems to be required. In this regard, finding out the missed information which has been lost due to irreversibly of the dissipative systems, is also of practical importance in quantum information science. Motivating by these facts, in this work we want to use superoperator and matrix techniques, by which we are able to illustrate two methods to obtain the explicit form of density operators corresponding to damped systems at arbitrary temperature T ≥ 0. To establish the potential abilities of the suggested methods, we apply them to deduce the density operator of some practical well-known quantum systems. Using the superoperator techniques, at first we obtain the density operator of a damped system which includes a qubit interacting with a single-mode quantized field within an optical cavity. As the second system, we study the decoherence of a quantized field within an optical damped cavity. We also use our proposed matrix method to study the decoherence of a system which includes two qubits in the interaction with each other via dipole-dipole interaction and at the same time with a quantized field in a lossy cavity. The influences of dissipation on the decoherence of dynamical properties of these systems are also numerically investigated. At last, the advantages of the proposed superoperator techniques in comparison with matrix method are explained.

Non-local correlations via Wigner-Yanase skew information in two SC-qubit having mutual interaction under phase decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohamed, Abdel-Baset A.

2017-10-01

An analytical solution of the master equation that describes a superconducting cavity containing two coupled superconducting charge qubits is obtained. Quantum-mechanical correlations based on Wigner-Yanase skew information, as local quantum uncertainty and uncertainty-induced quantum non-locality, are compared to the concurrence under the effects of the phase decoherence. Local quantum uncertainty exhibits sudden changes during its time evolution and revival process. Sudden death and sudden birth occur only for entanglement, depending on the initial state of the two coupled charge qubits, while the correlations of skew information does not vanish. The quantum correlations of skew information are found to be sensitive to the dephasing rate, the photons number in the cavity, the interaction strength between the two qubits, and the qubit distribution angle of the initial state. With a proper initial state, the stationary correlation of the skew information has a non-zero stationary value for a long time interval under the phase decoherence, that it may be useful in quantum information and computation processes.

Principles of control for decoherence-free subsystems.

PubMed

Cappellaro, P; Hodges, J S; Havel, T F; Cory, D G

2006-07-28

Decoherence-free subsystems (DFSs) are a powerful means of protecting quantum information against noise with known symmetry properties. Although Hamiltonians that can implement a universal set of logic gates on DFS encoded qubits without ever leaving the protected subsystem theoretically exist, the natural Hamiltonians that are available in specific implementations do not necessarily have this property. Here we describe some of the principles that can be used in such cases to operate on encoded qubits without losing the protection offered by the DFSs. In particular, we show how dynamical decoupling can be used to control decoherence during the unavoidable excursions outside of the DFS. By means of cumulant expansions, we show how the fidelity of quantum gates implemented by this method on a simple two physical qubit DFS depends on the correlation time of the noise responsible for decoherence. We further show by means of numerical simulations how our previously introduced "strongly modulating pulses" for NMR quantum information processing can permit high-fidelity operations on multiple DFS encoded qubits in practice, provided that the rate at which the system can be modulated is fast compared to the correlation time of the noise. The principles thereby illustrated are expected to be broadly applicable to many implementations of quantum information processors based on DFS encoded qubits.

Observation of an anomalous decoherence effect in a quantum bath at room temperature

PubMed Central

Huang, Pu; Kong, Xi; Zhao, Nan; Shi, Fazhan; Wang, Pengfei; Rong, Xing; Liu, Ren-Bao; Du, Jiangfeng

2011-01-01

The decoherence of quantum objects is a critical issue in quantum science and technology. It is generally believed that stronger noise causes faster decoherence. Strikingly, recent theoretical work suggests that under certain conditions, the opposite is true for spins in quantum baths. Here we report an experimental observation of an anomalous decoherence effect for the electron spin-1 of a nitrogen-vacancy centre in high-purity diamond at room temperature. We demonstrate that, under dynamical decoupling, the double-transition can have longer coherence time than the single-transition even though the former couples to the nuclear spin bath as twice strongly as the latter does. The excellent agreement between the experimental and theoretical results confirms the controllability of the weakly coupled nuclear spins in the bath, which is useful in quantum information processing and quantum metrology. PMID:22146389

Quantum Fisher information of the Greenberg-Horne-Zeilinger state in decoherence channels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ma Jian; Huang Yixiao; Wang Xiaoguang

2011-08-15

Quantum Fisher information of a parameter characterizes the sensitivity of the state with respect to changes of the parameter. In this article, we study the quantum Fisher information of a state with respect to SU(2) rotations under three decoherence channels: the amplitude-damping, phase-damping, and depolarizing channels. The initial state is chosen to be a Greenberg-Horne-Zeilinger state of which the phase sensitivity can achieve the Heisenberg limit. By using the Kraus operator representation, the quantum Fisher information is obtained analytically. We observe the decay and sudden change of the quantum Fisher information in all three channels.

Preserving flying qubit in single-mode fiber with Knill Dynamical Decoupling (KDD)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Manish; Navarro, Erik; Moulder, Todd; Mueller, Jason; Balouchi, Ashkan; Brown, Katherine; Lee, Hwang; Dowling, Jonathan

2015-03-01

The implementation of information-theoretic-crypto protocol is limited by decoherence caused by the birefringence of a single-mode fiber. We propose the Knill dynamical decoupling scheme, implemented using half-wave plates, to minimize decoherence and show that a fidelity greater than 96% can be achieved even in presence of rotation error.

Decoherence and Noise in Spin-based Solid State Quantum Computers. Approximation-Free Numerical Simulations

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-07-21

the spin coherent states P-representation", Conference on Quantum Computations and Many- Body Systems, February 2006, Key West, FL 9. B. N. Harmon...solid-state spin-based qubit systems was the focus of our project. Since decoherence is a complex many- body non-equilibrium process, and its...representation of the density matrix, see Sec. 3 below). This work prompted J. Taylor from the experimental group of C. Marcus and M. Lukin (funded by

Emergence of Space-Time Localization and Cosmic Decoherence:. More on Irreversible Time, Dark Energy, Anti-Matter and Black-Holes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magnon, Anne

2005-04-01

A non geometric cosmology is presented, based on logic of observability, where logical categories of our perception set frontiers to comprehensibility. The Big-Bang singularity finds here a substitute (comparable to a "quantum jump"): a logical process (tied to self-referent and divisible totality) by which information emerges, focalizes on events and recycles, providing a transition from incoherence to causal coherence. This jump manufactures causal order and space-time localization, as exact solutions to Einstein's equation, where the last step of the process disentangles complex Riemann spheres into real null-cones (a geometric overturning imposed by self-reference, reminding us of our ability to project the cosmos within our mental sphere). Concepts such as antimatter and dark energy (dual entities tied to bifurcations or broken symmetries, and their compensation), are presented as hidden in the virtual potentialities, while irreversible time appears with the recycling of information and related flow. Logical bifurcations (such as the "part-totality" category, a quantum of information which owes its recycling to non localizable logical separations, as anticipated by unstability or horizon dependence of the quantum vacuum) induce broken symmetries, at the (complex or real) geometric level [eg. the antiselfdual complex non linear graviton solutions, which break duality symmetry, provide a model for (hidden) anti-matter, itself compensated with dark-energy, and providing, with space-time localization, the radiative gravitational energy (Bondi flux and related bifurcations of the peeling off type), as well as mass of isolated bodies]. These bifurcations are compensated by inertial effects (non geometric precursors of the Coriolis forces) able to explain (on logical grounds) the cosmic expansion (a repulsion?) and critical equilibrium of the cosmic tissue. Space-time environment, itself, emerges through the jump, as a censor to totality, a screen to incoherence (as anticipated by black-hole event horizons, cosmic censors able to shelter causal geometry). In analogy with black-hole singularities, the Big-Bang can be viewed as a geometric hint that a transition from incoherence to (causal space-time) localization and related coherence (comprehensibility), is taking place (space-time demolition, a reverse process towards incoherence or information recycling, is expected in the vicinity of singularities, as hinted by black-holes and related "time-machines"). A theory of the emergence of perception (and life?), in connection with observability and the function of partition (able to screen totality), is on its way [interface incoherence-coherence, sleeping and awaking states of localization, horizons of perception etc, are anticipated by black-hole event horizons, beyond which a non causal, dimensionless incoherent regime or memorization process, presents itself with the loss of localization, suggesting a unifying regime (ultimate energies?) hidden in cosmic potentialities]. The decoherence process presented here, suggests an ultimate interaction, expression of the logical relation of subsystems to totality, and to be identified to the flow of information or its recycling through cosmic jump (this is anticipated by the dissipation of distance or hierarchies on null-cones, themselves recycled with information and events). The geometric projection of this unified irreversible dynamics is expressed by unified Yang-Mills field equations (coupled to Einsteinian gravity). An ultimate form of action ("set"-volumes of information) presents itself, whose extrema can be achieved through extremal transfer of information and related partition of cells of information (thus anticipating the mitosis of living cells, possibly triggered at the non localizable level, as imposed by the logical regime of cosmic decoherence: participating subsystems ?). The matching of the objective and subjective facets of (information and) decoherences is perceived as contact with a reality.

Quantum many-body theory for electron spin decoherence in nanoscale nuclear spin baths.

PubMed

Yang, Wen; Ma, Wen-Long; Liu, Ren-Bao

2017-01-01

Decoherence of electron spins in nanoscale systems is important to quantum technologies such as quantum information processing and magnetometry. It is also an ideal model problem for studying the crossover between quantum and classical phenomena. At low temperatures or in light-element materials where the spin-orbit coupling is weak, the phonon scattering in nanostructures is less important and the fluctuations of nuclear spins become the dominant decoherence mechanism for electron spins. Since the 1950s, semi-classical noise theories have been developed for understanding electron spin decoherence. In spin-based solid-state quantum technologies, the relevant systems are in the nanometer scale and nuclear spin baths are quantum objects which require a quantum description. Recently, quantum pictures have been established to understand the decoherence and quantum many-body theories have been developed to quantitatively describe this phenomenon. Anomalous quantum effects have been predicted and some have been experimentally confirmed. A systematically truncated cluster-correlation expansion theory has been developed to account for the many-body correlations in nanoscale nuclear spin baths that are built up during electron spin decoherence. The theory has successfully predicted and explained a number of experimental results in a wide range of physical systems. In this review, we will cover this recent progress. The limitations of the present quantum many-body theories and possible directions for future development will also be discussed.

A Simple Example of ``Quantum Darwinism'': Redundant Information Storage in Many-Spin Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blume-Kohout, Robin; Zurek, Wojciech H.

2005-11-01

As quantum information science approaches the goal of constructing quantum computers, understanding loss of information through decoherence becomes increasingly important. The information about a system that can be obtained from its environment can facilitate quantum control and error correction. Moreover, observers gain most of their information indirectly, by monitoring (primarily photon) environments of the "objects of interest." Exactly how this information is inscribed in the environment is essential for the emergence of "the classical" from the quantum substrate. In this paper, we examine how many-qubit (or many-spin) environments can store information about a single system. The information lost to the environment can be stored redundantly, or it can be encoded in entangled modes of the environment. We go on to show that randomly chosen states of the environment almost always encode the information so that an observer must capture a majority of the environment to deduce the system's state. Conversely, in the states produced by a typical decoherence process, information about a particular observable of the system is stored redundantly. This selective proliferation of "the fittest information" (known as Quantum Darwinism) plays a key role in choosing the preferred, effectively classical observables of macroscopic systems. The developing appreciation that the environment functions not just as a garbage dump, but as a communication channel, is extending our understanding of the environment's role in the quantum-classical transition beyond the traditional paradigm of decoherence.

Probing Nuclear Spin Effects on Electronic Spin Coherence via EPR Measurements of Vanadium(IV) Complexes.

PubMed

Graham, Michael J; Krzyaniak, Matthew D; Wasielewski, Michael R; Freedman, Danna E

2017-07-17

Quantum information processing (QIP) has the potential to transform numerous fields from cryptography, to finance, to the simulation of quantum systems. A promising implementation of QIP employs unpaired electronic spins as qubits, the fundamental units of information. Though molecular electronic spins offer many advantages, including chemical tunability and facile addressability, the development of design principles for the synthesis of complexes that exhibit long qubit superposition lifetimes (also known as coherence times, or T 2 ) remains a challenge. As nuclear spins in the local qubit environment are a primary cause of shortened superposition lifetimes, we recently conducted a study which employed a modular spin-free ligand scaffold to place a spin-laden propyl moiety at a series of fixed distances from an S = 1 / 2 vanadium(IV) ion in a series of vanadyl complexes. We found that, within a radius of 4.0(4)-6.6(6) Å from the metal center, nuclei did not contribute to decoherence. To assess the generality of this important design principle and test its efficacy in a different coordination geometry, we synthesized and investigated three vanadium tris(dithiolene) complexes with the same ligand set employed in our previous study: K 2 [V(C 5 H 6 S 4 ) 3 ] (1), K 2 [V(C 7 H 6 S 6 ) 3 ] (2), and K 2 [V(C 9 H 6 S 8 ) 3 ] (3). We specifically interrogated solutions of these complexes in DMF-d 7 /toluene-d 8 with pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and electron nuclear double resonance spectroscopy and found that the distance dependence present in the previously synthesized vanadyl complexes holds true in this series. We further examined the coherence properties of the series in a different solvent, MeCN-d 3 /toluene-d 8 , and found that an additional property, the charge density of the complex, also affects decoherence across the series. These results highlight a previously unknown design principle for augmenting T 2 and open new pathways for the rational synthesis of complexes with long coherence times.

Experimental quantification of decoherence via the Loschmidt echo in a many spin system with scaled dipolar Hamiltonians

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Buljubasich, Lisandro; Dente, Axel D.; Levstein, Patricia R.

2015-10-28

We performed Loschmidt echo nuclear magnetic resonance experiments to study decoherence under a scaled dipolar Hamiltonian by means of a symmetrical time-reversal pulse sequence denominated Proportionally Refocused Loschmidt (PRL) echo. The many-spin system represented by the protons in polycrystalline adamantane evolves through two steps of evolution characterized by the secular part of the dipolar Hamiltonian, scaled down with a factor |k| and opposite signs. The scaling factor can be varied continuously from 0 to 1/2, giving access to a range of complexity in the dynamics. The experimental results for the Loschmidt echoes showed a spreading of the decay rates thatmore » correlate directly to the scaling factors |k|, giving evidence that the decoherence is partially governed by the coherent dynamics. The average Hamiltonian theory was applied to give an insight into the spin dynamics during the pulse sequence. The calculations were performed for every single radio frequency block in contrast to the most widely used form. The first order of the average Hamiltonian numerically computed for an 8-spin system showed decay rates that progressively decrease as the secular dipolar Hamiltonian becomes weaker. Notably, the first order Hamiltonian term neglected by conventional calculations yielded an explanation for the ordering of the experimental decoherence rates. However, there is a strong overall decoherence observed in the experiments which is not reflected by the theoretical results. The fact that the non-inverted terms do not account for this effect is a challenging topic. A number of experiments to further explore the relation of the complete Hamiltonian with this dominant decoherence rate are proposed.« less

Tuning quantum measurements to control chaos.

PubMed

Eastman, Jessica K; Hope, Joseph J; Carvalho, André R R

2017-03-20

Environment-induced decoherence has long been recognised as being of crucial importance in the study of chaos in quantum systems. In particular, the exact form and strength of the system-environment interaction play a major role in the quantum-to-classical transition of chaotic systems. In this work we focus on the effect of varying monitoring strategies, i.e. for a given decoherence model and a fixed environmental coupling, there is still freedom on how to monitor a quantum system. We show here that there is a region between the deep quantum regime and the classical limit where the choice of the monitoring parameter allows one to control the complex behaviour of the system, leading to either the emergence or suppression of chaos. Our work shows that this is a result from the interplay between quantum interference effects induced by the nonlinear dynamics and the effectiveness of the decoherence for different measurement schemes.

Improving Qubit Phase Estimation in Amplitude-damping Channel by Partial-collapse Measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Xiang-Ping; Zhou, Xin; Fang, Mao-Fa

2018-03-01

An efficient method is proposed to improve qubit phase estimation in amplitude-damping channel by partial-collapse measurement in this paper. It is shown that the quantum Fisher information (QFI) can be distinctly enhanced under amplitude-damping decoherence with partial-collapse measurement. Moreover, the optimal QFI is approximately close to the maximum value 1 regardless of the decoherence parameter by choosing the appropriate measurement strengths.

Decoherence of entangled states by colored noise: application to precision measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andre, Axel; Sorensen, Anders; Lukin, Mikhail; van der Wal, Caspar

2003-05-01

Controlled manipulation of quantum systems can lead to a number of exciting new applications in quantum information science, from quantum computation to applications in precision measurements. In many such applications, decoherence is a key factor to take into account and ultimately determines the feasibility or usefulness of the proposal. The decoherence of quantum mechanical degrees of freedom is usually modeled through their interaction with a bath consisting of a large number of harmonic oscillators. The separation of energy scales between the energy of the oscillators and the interaction energy leads to separation of time scales so that the decoherence process can be modeled effectively by a markovian process (infinitely short reservoir correlation time). Low-lying state are long-lived and are therefore ideally suited for storage of quantum information and long-lived quantum memory. Due to their long lifetime, these states are sensitive to the low frequency noise of the environment. In particular 1/f noise is dominating at low frequencies and this changes the form of the decoherence. In this case, non-exponential decay is to be expected so that the importance of decoherence depends on the time-scale. We consider the accuracy of frequency measurements using the Ramsey technique when the ensemble of atoms is subject to colored noise during the measurement. It has been shown that the use of entangled states of atomic ensembles (so-called spin squeezed states) may lead to an improvement in the accuracy of frequency measurements when the system is noiseless [1]. To assess the usefulness in a real setup decoherence has to be taken into account. It has been shown that for white noise spectra the net improvement is very small [2], this conclusion is however changed significantly when the system is influenced by colored noise. We study phase noise of the reference oscillator in frequency measurements and show that for non-white noise spectra (e.g. when the noise power increases at low frequencies such as for 1/f noise) there is a net improvement in accuracy when using spin-squeezed states as compared with non-entangled states. [1] D.J. Wineland et al., Phys. Rev. A 50, 67 (1994). [2] S.F. Huelga et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 3865 (1997).

Amplification, Decoherence, and the Acquisition of Information by Spin Environments

PubMed Central

Zwolak, Michael; Riedel, C. Jess; Zurek, Wojciech H.

2016-01-01

Quantum Darwinism recognizes the role of the environment as a communication channel: Decoherence can selectively amplify information about the pointer states of a system of interest (preventing access to complementary information about their superpositions) and can make records of this information accessible to many observers. This redundancy explains the emergence of objective, classical reality in our quantum Universe. Here, we demonstrate that the amplification of information in realistic spin environments can be quantified by the quantum Chernoff information, which characterizes the distinguishability of partial records in individual environment subsystems. We show that, except for a set of initial states of measure zero, the environment always acquires redundant information. Moreover, the Chernoff information captures the rich behavior of amplification in both finite and infinite spin environments, from quadratic growth of the redundancy to oscillatory behavior. These results will considerably simplify experimental testing of quantum Darwinism, e.g., using nitrogen vacancies in diamond. PMID:27193389

Amplification, Decoherence, and the Acquisition of Information by Spin Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwolak, Michael; Riedel, C. Jess; Zurek, Wojciech H.

2016-05-01

Quantum Darwinism recognizes the role of the environment as a communication channel: Decoherence can selectively amplify information about the pointer states of a system of interest (preventing access to complementary information about their superpositions) and can make records of this information accessible to many observers. This redundancy explains the emergence of objective, classical reality in our quantum Universe. Here, we demonstrate that the amplification of information in realistic spin environments can be quantified by the quantum Chernoff information, which characterizes the distinguishability of partial records in individual environment subsystems. We show that, except for a set of initial states of measure zero, the environment always acquires redundant information. Moreover, the Chernoff information captures the rich behavior of amplification in both finite and infinite spin environments, from quadratic growth of the redundancy to oscillatory behavior. These results will considerably simplify experimental testing of quantum Darwinism, e.g., using nitrogen vacancies in diamond.

Quantum Darwinism in Quantum Brownian Motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blume-Kohout, Robin; Zurek, Wojciech H.

2008-12-01

Quantum Darwinism—the redundant encoding of information about a decohering system in its environment—was proposed to reconcile the quantum nature of our Universe with apparent classicality. We report the first study of the dynamics of quantum Darwinism in a realistic model of decoherence, quantum Brownian motion. Prepared in a highly squeezed state—a macroscopic superposition—the system leaves records whose redundancy increases rapidly with initial delocalization. Redundancy appears rapidly (on the decoherence time scale) and persists for a long time.

Quantum Darwinism in quantum Brownian motion.

PubMed

Blume-Kohout, Robin; Zurek, Wojciech H

2008-12-12

Quantum Darwinism--the redundant encoding of information about a decohering system in its environment--was proposed to reconcile the quantum nature of our Universe with apparent classicality. We report the first study of the dynamics of quantum Darwinism in a realistic model of decoherence, quantum Brownian motion. Prepared in a highly squeezed state--a macroscopic superposition--the system leaves records whose redundancy increases rapidly with initial delocalization. Redundancy appears rapidly (on the decoherence time scale) and persists for a long time.

Computational quantum-classical boundary of noisy commuting quantum circuits

PubMed Central

Fujii, Keisuke; Tamate, Shuhei

2016-01-01

It is often said that the transition from quantum to classical worlds is caused by decoherence originated from an interaction between a system of interest and its surrounding environment. Here we establish a computational quantum-classical boundary from the viewpoint of classical simulatability of a quantum system under decoherence. Specifically, we consider commuting quantum circuits being subject to decoherence. Or equivalently, we can regard them as measurement-based quantum computation on decohered weighted graph states. To show intractability of classical simulation in the quantum side, we utilize the postselection argument and crucially strengthen it by taking noise effect into account. Classical simulatability in the classical side is also shown constructively by using both separable criteria in a projected-entangled-pair-state picture and the Gottesman-Knill theorem for mixed state Clifford circuits. We found that when each qubit is subject to a single-qubit complete-positive-trace-preserving noise, the computational quantum-classical boundary is sharply given by the noise rate required for the distillability of a magic state. The obtained quantum-classical boundary of noisy quantum dynamics reveals a complexity landscape of controlled quantum systems. This paves a way to an experimentally feasible verification of quantum mechanics in a high complexity limit beyond classically simulatable region. PMID:27189039

Computational quantum-classical boundary of noisy commuting quantum circuits.

PubMed

Fujii, Keisuke; Tamate, Shuhei

2016-05-18

It is often said that the transition from quantum to classical worlds is caused by decoherence originated from an interaction between a system of interest and its surrounding environment. Here we establish a computational quantum-classical boundary from the viewpoint of classical simulatability of a quantum system under decoherence. Specifically, we consider commuting quantum circuits being subject to decoherence. Or equivalently, we can regard them as measurement-based quantum computation on decohered weighted graph states. To show intractability of classical simulation in the quantum side, we utilize the postselection argument and crucially strengthen it by taking noise effect into account. Classical simulatability in the classical side is also shown constructively by using both separable criteria in a projected-entangled-pair-state picture and the Gottesman-Knill theorem for mixed state Clifford circuits. We found that when each qubit is subject to a single-qubit complete-positive-trace-preserving noise, the computational quantum-classical boundary is sharply given by the noise rate required for the distillability of a magic state. The obtained quantum-classical boundary of noisy quantum dynamics reveals a complexity landscape of controlled quantum systems. This paves a way to an experimentally feasible verification of quantum mechanics in a high complexity limit beyond classically simulatable region.

Computational quantum-classical boundary of noisy commuting quantum circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujii, Keisuke; Tamate, Shuhei

2016-05-01

It is often said that the transition from quantum to classical worlds is caused by decoherence originated from an interaction between a system of interest and its surrounding environment. Here we establish a computational quantum-classical boundary from the viewpoint of classical simulatability of a quantum system under decoherence. Specifically, we consider commuting quantum circuits being subject to decoherence. Or equivalently, we can regard them as measurement-based quantum computation on decohered weighted graph states. To show intractability of classical simulation in the quantum side, we utilize the postselection argument and crucially strengthen it by taking noise effect into account. Classical simulatability in the classical side is also shown constructively by using both separable criteria in a projected-entangled-pair-state picture and the Gottesman-Knill theorem for mixed state Clifford circuits. We found that when each qubit is subject to a single-qubit complete-positive-trace-preserving noise, the computational quantum-classical boundary is sharply given by the noise rate required for the distillability of a magic state. The obtained quantum-classical boundary of noisy quantum dynamics reveals a complexity landscape of controlled quantum systems. This paves a way to an experimentally feasible verification of quantum mechanics in a high complexity limit beyond classically simulatable region.

Suppression of nuclear spin bath fluctuations in self-assembled quantum dots induced by inhomogeneous strain

PubMed Central

Chekhovich, E.A.; Hopkinson, M.; Skolnick, M.S.; Tartakovskii, A.I.

2015-01-01

Interaction with nuclear spins leads to decoherence and information loss in solid-state electron-spin qubits. One particular, ineradicable source of electron decoherence arises from decoherence of the nuclear spin bath, driven by nuclear–nuclear dipolar interactions. Owing to its many-body nature nuclear decoherence is difficult to predict, especially for an important class of strained nanostructures where nuclear quadrupolar effects have a significant but largely unknown impact. Here, we report direct measurement of nuclear spin bath coherence in individual self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots: spin-echo coherence times in the range 1.2–4.5 ms are found. Based on these values, we demonstrate that strain-induced quadrupolar interactions make nuclear spin fluctuations much slower compared with lattice-matched GaAs/AlGaAs structures. Our findings demonstrate that quadrupolar effects can potentially be used to engineer optically active III-V semiconductor spin-qubits with a nearly noise-free nuclear spin bath, previously achievable only in nuclear spin-0 semiconductors, where qubit network interconnection and scaling are challenging. PMID:25704639

A holographic model for black hole complementarity

DOE PAGES

Lowe, David A.; Thorlacius, Larus

2016-12-07

Here, we explore a version of black hole complementarity, where an approximate semiclassical effective field theory for interior infalling degrees of freedom emerges holo-graphically from an exact evolution of exterior degrees of freedom. The infalling degrees of freedom have a complementary description in terms of outgoing Hawking radiation and must eventually decohere with respect to the exterior Hamiltonian, leading to a breakdown of the semiclassical description for an infaller. Trace distance is used to quantify the difference between the complementary time evolutions, and to define a decoherence time. We propose a dictionary where the evolution with respect to the bulkmore » effective Hamiltonian corresponds to mean field evolution in the holographic theory. In a particular model for the holographic theory, which exhibits fast scrambling, the decoherence time coincides with the scrambling time. The results support the hypothesis that decoherence of the infalling holographic state and disruptive bulk effects near the curvature singularity are comple-mentary descriptions of the same physics, which is an important step toward resolving the black hole information paradox.« less

PREFACE: DICE 2012 : Spacetime Matter Quantum Mechanics - from the Planck scale to emergent phenomena

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diósi, Lajos; Elze, Hans-Thomas; Fronzoni, Leone; Halliwell, Jonathan; Prati, Enrico; Vitiello, Giuseppe; Yearsley, James

2013-06-01

Presented in this volume are the Invited Lectures and the Contributed Papers of the Sixth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2012, held at Castello Pasquini, Castiglioncello (Tuscany), 17-21 September 2012. These proceedings may document to the interested public and to the wider scientific community the stimulating exchange of ideas at the meeting. The number of participants has been steadily growing over the years, reflecting an increasing attraction, if not need, of such conference. Our very intention has always been to bring together leading researchers, advanced students, and renowned scholars from various areas, in order to stimulate new ideas and their exchange across the borders of specialization. In this way, the series of meetings successfully continued from the beginning with DICE 20021, followed by DICE 20042, DICE 20063, DICE 20084, and DICE 20105, Most recently, DICE 2012 brought together more than 120 participants representing more than 30 countries worldwide. It has been a great honour and inspiration to have Professor Yakir Aharonov (Tel Aviv) with us, who presented the opening Keynote Lecture 'The two-vector quantum formalism'. With the overarching theme 'Spacetime - Matter - Quantum Mechanics - from the Planck scale to emergent phenomena', the conference took place in the very pleasant and inspiring atmosphere of Castello Pasquini - in beautiful surroundings, overlooking a piece of Tuscany's coast. The 5-day program covered these major topics: Quantum Mechanics, Foundations and Quantum-Classical Border Quantum-Classical Hybrids and Many-Body Systems Spectral Geometry, Path Integrals and Experiments Quantum -/- Gravity -/- Spacetime Quantum Mechanics on all Scales? A Roundtable Discussion under the theme 'Nuovi orizzonti nella ricerca scientifica. Ci troviamo di fronte ad una rivoluzione scientifica?' formed an integral part of the program. With participation of E Del Giudice (INFN & Università di Milano), F Guerra (Università 'La Sapienza', Roma) and G Vitiello (Università di Salerno), this event traditionally dedicated to the public drew a large audience involved in lively discussions until late. The workshop was organized by L Diósi (Budapest), H-T Elze (Pisa, chair), L Fronzoni (Pisa), J J Halliwell (London), E Prati (Milano) and G Vitiello (Salerno), with most essential help from our conference secretaries L Fratino, N Lampo, I Pozzana, and A Sonnellini, all students from Pisa, and from our former secretaries M Pesce-Rollins and L Baldini. Several institutions and sponsors supported the workshop and their representatives and, in particular, the citizens of Rosignano/Castiglioncello are deeply thanked for the generous help and kind hospitality: Comune di Rosignano - A Franchi (Sindaco di Rosignano), S Scarpellini (Segreteria sindaco), L Benini (Assessore ai lavori pubblici), M Pia (Assessore all' urbanistica) REA Rosignano Energia Ambiente s.p.a. - F Ghelardini (Presidente della REA), E Salvadori and C Peccianti (Segreteria) Associazione Armunia - A Nanni (Direttore), G Mannari (Programmazione), C Perna, F Bellini, M Nannerini, P Bruni and L Meucci (Tecnici). Special thanks go to G Mannari and her collaborators for advice and great help in all the practical matters that had to be dealt with, in order to run the meeting at Castello Pasquini smoothly Funds made available by Università di Pisa, Domus Galilaeana (Pisa), Centro Interdisciplinare per lo Studio dei Sistemi Complessi - CISSC (Pisa), Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale (Università di Salerno), Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici - IISF (Napoli), Solvay Italia SA (Rosignano), Institute of Physics Publishing - IOP (Bristol), Springer Verlag (Heidelberg), and Hungarian Scientific Research Fund OTKA are gratefully acknowledged. Last, but not least, special thanks are due to Laura Pesce (Vitrium Galleria, San Vincenzo) for the exposition of her artwork 'arte e scienza' at Castello Pasquini during the conference. The papers submitted in the wake of the conference have been edited by L Diósi, H-T Elze, L Fronzoni, J J Halliwell, E Prati, G Vitiello and J Yearsley. The proceedings follow essentially the order of presentation during the conference, separating, however, invited lectures and contributed papers6. In the name of all participants, we would like to thank S Toms with her collaborators at IOP Publishing (Bristol) for friendly advice and most valuable immediate help during the editing process and, especially, for their continuing efforts to make the Journal of Physics: Conference Series available to all. Budapest, Pisa, London, Milano, Salerno, Cambridge, April 2013 Lajos Diósi, Hans-Thomas Elze, Leone Fronzoni, Jonathan Halliwell, Enrico Prati, Giuseppe Vitiello and James Yearsley 1 Decoherence and Entropy in Complex Systems ed H-T Elze Lecture Notes in Physics 633 (Berlin: Springer, 2004) 2 Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2004 ed H-T Elze Braz. Journ. Phys. 35 A & 2B (2005) pp 205-529 free access at: www.sbfisica.org.br/bjp 3 Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2006 eds H-T Elze, L Diósi and G Vitiello Journal of Physics: Conference Series 67 (2007); free access at: www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/67/1 4 Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2008> eds H-T Elze, L Diósi, L Fronzoni, J J Halliwell and G Vitiello Journal of Physics: Conference Series 174 (2009); free access at: http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/174/1 5 Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2010 eds H-T Elze, L Diósi, L Fronzoni, J J Halliwell, E Prati, G Vitiello and J Yearsley Journal of Physics: Conference Series 306 (2011); free access at: http://iopscience.iop.org/1742-6596/306/1 6 We regret that invited lectures by Y Aharonov, J Barbour, G Casati and X-G Wen could not be reproduced here, partly for copyright reasons

Metastable decoherence-free subspaces and electromagnetically induced transparency in interacting many-body systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macieszczak, Katarzyna; Zhou, YanLi; Hofferberth, Sebastian; Garrahan, Juan P.; Li, Weibin; Lesanovsky, Igor

2017-10-01

We investigate the dynamics of a generic interacting many-body system under conditions of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). This problem is of current relevance due to its connection to nonlinear optical media realized by Rydberg atoms. In an interacting system the structure of the dynamics and the approach to the stationary state becomes far more complex than in the case of conventional EIT. In particular, we discuss the emergence of a metastable decoherence-free subspace, whose dimension for a single Rydberg excitation grows linearly in the number of atoms. On approach to stationarity this leads to a slow dynamics, which renders the typical assumption of fast relaxation invalid. We derive analytically the effective nonequilibrium dynamics in the decoherence-free subspace, which features coherent and dissipative two-body interactions. We discuss the use of this scenario for the preparation of collective entangled dark states and the realization of general unitary dynamics within the spin-wave subspace.

Quantum Darwinism: Entanglement, branches, and the emergent classicality of redundantly stored quantum information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blume-Kohout, Robin; Zurek, Wojciech H.

2006-06-01

We lay a comprehensive foundation for the study of redundant information storage in decoherence processes. Redundancy has been proposed as a prerequisite for objectivity, the defining property of classical objects. We consider two ensembles of states for a model universe consisting of one system and many environments: the first consisting of arbitrary states, and the second consisting of “singly branching” states consistent with a simple decoherence model. Typical states from the random ensemble do not store information about the system redundantly, but information stored in branching states has a redundancy proportional to the environment’s size. We compute the specific redundancy for a wide range of model universes, and fit the results to a simple first-principles theory. Our results show that the presence of redundancy divides information about the system into three parts: classical (redundant); purely quantum; and the borderline, undifferentiated or “nonredundant,” information.

Decoherence mechanisms in Mn3 single-molecule magnet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abeywardana, C.; Mowson, A. M.; Christou, G.; Takahashi, S.

In spite of wide interest in the quantum nature of SMMs, decoherence effects that ultimately limit such behavior have yet to be fully understood. Recent investigations have shown that there are three main decoherence mechanisms present in SMMs: spins can couple locally (i) to phonons (phonon decoherence); (ii) to many nuclear spins (nuclear decoherence); and (iii) to each other via dipolar interactions (dipolar decoherence). We have recently uncovered quantum coherence in a Mn3 SMM by quenching decoherence due to dipole interaction between SMMs using a high frequency electron paramagnetic resonance and low temperature. In this presentation, we will discuss temperature dependence of spin relaxation times and the decoherence mechanisms in the Mn3 SMM. This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (DMR-1508661) and the Searle scholars program.

Non-Markovian Complexity in the Quantum-to-Classical Transition

PubMed Central

Xiong, Heng-Na; Lo, Ping-Yuan; Zhang, Wei-Min; Feng, Da Hsuan; Nori, Franco

2015-01-01

The quantum-to-classical transition is due to environment-induced decoherence, and it depicts how classical dynamics emerges from quantum systems. Previously, the quantum-to-classical transition has mainly been described with memory-less (Markovian) quantum processes. Here we study the complexity of the quantum-to-classical transition through general non-Markovian memory processes. That is, the influence of various reservoirs results in a given initial quantum state evolving into one of the following four scenarios: thermal state, thermal-like state, quantum steady state, or oscillating quantum nonstationary state. In the latter two scenarios, the system maintains partial or full quantum coherence due to the strong non-Markovian memory effect, so that in these cases, the quantum-to-classical transition never occurs. This unexpected new feature provides a new avenue for the development of future quantum technologies because the remaining quantum oscillations in steady states are decoherence-free. PMID:26303002

A qubit coupled with confined phonons: The interplay between true and fake decoherence

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pouthier, Vincent

2013-08-07

The decoherence of a qubit coupled with the phonons of a finite-size lattice is investigated. The confined phonons no longer behave as a reservoir. They remain sensitive to the qubit so that the origin of the decoherence is twofold. First, a qubit-phonon entanglement yields an incomplete true decoherence. Second, the qubit renormalizes the phonon frequency resulting in fake decoherence when a thermal average is performed. To account for the initial thermalization of the lattice, the qua- ntum Langevin theory is applied so that the phonons are viewed as an open system coupled with a thermal bath of harmonic oscillators. Consequently,more » it is shown that the finite lifetime of the phonons does not modify fake decoherence but strongly affects true decoherence. Depending on the values of the model parameters, the interplay between fake and true decoherence yields a very rich dynamics with various regimes.« less

Redundant imprinting of information in nonideal environments: Objective reality via a noisy channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwolak, Michael; Quan, H. T.; Zurek, Wojciech H.

2010-06-01

Quantum Darwinism provides an information-theoretic framework for the emergence of the objective, classical world from the quantum substrate. The key to this emergence is the proliferation of redundant information throughout the environment where observers can then intercept it. We study this process for a purely decohering interaction when the environment, E, is in a nonideal (e.g., mixed) initial state. In the case of good decoherence, that is, after the pointer states have been unambiguously selected, the mutual information between the system, S, and an environment fragment, F, is given solely by F’s entropy increase. This demonstrates that the environment’s capacity for recording the state of S is directly related to its ability to increase its entropy. Environments that remain nearly invariant under the interaction with S, either because they have a large initial entropy or a misaligned initial state, therefore have a diminished ability to acquire information. To elucidate the concept of good decoherence, we show that, when decoherence is not complete, the deviation of the mutual information from F’s entropy change is quantified by the quantum discord, i.e., the excess mutual information between S and F is information regarding the initial coherence between pointer states of S. In addition to illustrating these results with a single-qubit system interacting with a multiqubit environment, we find scaling relations for the redundancy of information acquired by the environment that display a universal behavior independent of the initial state of S. Our results demonstrate that Quantum Darwinism is robust with respect to nonideal initial states of the environment: the environment almost always acquires redundant information about the system but its rate of acquisition can be reduced.

Controlling the quantum dynamics of a mesoscopic spin bath in diamond

PubMed Central

de Lange, Gijs; van der Sar, Toeno; Blok, Machiel; Wang, Zhi-Hui; Dobrovitski, Viatcheslav; Hanson, Ronald

2012-01-01

Understanding and mitigating decoherence is a key challenge for quantum science and technology. The main source of decoherence for solid-state spin systems is the uncontrolled spin bath environment. Here, we demonstrate quantum control of a mesoscopic spin bath in diamond at room temperature that is composed of electron spins of substitutional nitrogen impurities. The resulting spin bath dynamics are probed using a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre electron spin as a magnetic field sensor. We exploit the spin bath control to dynamically suppress dephasing of the NV spin by the spin bath. Furthermore, by combining spin bath control with dynamical decoupling, we directly measure the coherence and temporal correlations of different groups of bath spins. These results uncover a new arena for fundamental studies on decoherence and enable novel avenues for spin-based magnetometry and quantum information processing. PMID:22536480

Ignorance is bliss: general and robust cancellation of decoherence via no-knowledge quantum feedback.

PubMed

Szigeti, Stuart S; Carvalho, Andre R R; Morley, James G; Hush, Michael R

2014-07-11

A "no-knowledge" measurement of an open quantum system yields no information about any system observable; it only returns noise input from the environment. Surprisingly, performing such a no-knowledge measurement can be advantageous. We prove that a system undergoing no-knowledge monitoring has reversible noise, which can be canceled by directly feeding back the measurement signal. We show how no-knowledge feedback control can be used to cancel decoherence in an arbitrary quantum system coupled to a Markovian reservoir that is being monitored. Since no-knowledge feedback does not depend on the system state or Hamiltonian, such decoherence cancellation is guaranteed to be general and robust, and can operate in conjunction with any other quantum control protocol. As an application, we show that no-knowledge feedback could be used to improve the performance of dissipative quantum computers subjected to local loss.

Influence of intrinsic decoherence on tripartite entanglement and bipartite fidelity of polar molecules in pendular states

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Han, Jia-Xing; Hu, Yuan; Jin, Yu

An array of ultracold polar molecules trapped in an external electric field is regarded as a promising carrier of quantum information. Under the action of this field, molecules are compelled to undergo pendular oscillations by the Stark effect. Particular attention has been paid to the influence of intrinsic decoherence on the model of linear polar molecular pendular states, thereby we evaluate the tripartite entanglement with negativity, as well as fidelity of bipartite quantum systems for input and output signals using electric dipole moments of polar molecules as qubits. According to this study, we consider three typical initial states for bothmore » systems, respectively, and investigate the temporal evolution with variable values of the external field intensity, the intrinsic decoherence factor, and the dipole-dipole interaction. Thus, we demonstrate the sound selection of these three main parameters to obtain the best entanglement degree and fidelity.« less

Influence of intrinsic decoherence on tripartite entanglement and bipartite fidelity of polar molecules in pendular states.

PubMed

Han, Jia-Xing; Hu, Yuan; Jin, Yu; Zhang, Guo-Feng

2016-04-07

An array of ultracold polar molecules trapped in an external electric field is regarded as a promising carrier of quantum information. Under the action of this field, molecules are compelled to undergo pendular oscillations by the Stark effect. Particular attention has been paid to the influence of intrinsic decoherence on the model of linear polar molecular pendular states, thereby we evaluate the tripartite entanglement with negativity, as well as fidelity of bipartite quantum systems for input and output signals using electric dipole moments of polar molecules as qubits. According to this study, we consider three typical initial states for both systems, respectively, and investigate the temporal evolution with variable values of the external field intensity, the intrinsic decoherence factor, and the dipole-dipole interaction. Thus, we demonstrate the sound selection of these three main parameters to obtain the best entanglement degree and fidelity.

Coherence protection in coupled quantum systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cammack, H. M.; Kirton, P.; Stace, T. M.; Eastham, P. R.; Keeling, J.; Lovett, B. W.

2018-02-01

The interaction of a quantum system with its environment causes decoherence, setting a fundamental limit on its suitability for quantum information processing. However, we show that if the system consists of coupled parts with different internal energy scales then the interaction of one part with a thermal bath need not lead to loss of coherence from the other. Remarkably, we find that the protected part can remain coherent for longer when the coupling to the bath becomes stronger or the temperature is raised. Our theory will enable the design of decoherence-resistant hybrid quantum computers.

Probability, arrow of time and decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bacciagaluppi, Guido

This paper relates both to the metaphysics of probability and to the physics of time asymmetry. Using the formalism of decoherent histories, it investigates whether intuitions about intrinsic time directedness that are often associated with probability can be justified in the context of no-collapse approaches to quantum mechanics. The standard (two-vector) approach to time symmetry in the decoherent histories literature is criticised, and an alternative approach is proposed, based on two decoherence conditions ('forwards' and 'backwards') within the one-vector formalism. In turn, considerations of forwards and backwards decoherence and of decoherence and recoherence suggest that a time-directed interpretation of probabilities, if adopted, should be both contingent and perspectival.

Measurement-induced decoherence and information in double-slit interference.

PubMed

Kincaid, Joshua; McLelland, Kyle; Zwolak, Michael

2016-07-01

The double slit experiment provides a classic example of both interference and the effect of observation in quantum physics. When particles are sent individually through a pair of slits, a wave-like interference pattern develops, but no such interference is found when one observes which "path" the particles take. We present a model of interference, dephasing, and measurement-induced decoherence in a one-dimensional version of the double-slit experiment. Using this model, we demonstrate how the loss of interference in the system is correlated with the information gain by the measuring apparatus/observer. In doing so, we give a modern account of measurement in this paradigmatic example of quantum physics that is accessible to students taking quantum mechanics at the graduate or senior undergraduate levels.

Decoherence-induced conductivity in the one-dimensional Anderson model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stegmann, Thomas; Wolf, Dietrich E.; Ujsághy, Orsolya

We study the effect of decoherence on the electron transport in the one-dimensional Anderson model by means of a statistical model [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. In this model decoherence bonds are randomly distributed within the system, at which the electron phase is randomized completely. Afterwards, the transport quantity of interest (e.g. resistance or conductance) is ensemble averaged over the decoherence configurations. Averaging the resistance of the sample, the calculation can be performed analytically. In the thermodynamic limit, we find a decoherence-driven transition from the quantum-coherent localized regime to the Ohmic regime at a critical decoherence density, which is determinedmore » by the second-order generalized Lyapunov exponent (GLE) [4].« less

Three-player quantum Kolkata restaurant problem under decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramzan, M.

2013-01-01

Effect of quantum decoherence in a three-player quantum Kolkata restaurant problem is investigated using tripartite entangled qutrit states. Different qutrit channels such as, amplitude damping, depolarizing, phase damping, trit-phase flip and phase flip channels are considered to analyze the behaviour of players payoffs. It is seen that Alice's payoff is heavily influenced by the amplitude damping channel as compared to the depolarizing and flipping channels. However, for higher level of decoherence, Alice's payoff is strongly affected by depolarizing noise. Whereas the behaviour of phase damping channel is symmetrical around 50% decoherence. It is also seen that for maximum decoherence ( p = 1), the influence of amplitude damping channel dominates over depolarizing and flipping channels. Whereas, phase damping channel has no effect on the Alice's payoff. Therefore, the problem becomes noiseless at maximum decoherence in case of phase damping channel. Furthermore, the Nash equilibrium of the problem does not change under decoherence.

A general theoretical framework for decoherence in open and closed systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castagnino, Mario; Fortin, Sebastian; Laura, Roberto; Lombardi, Olimpia

2008-08-01

A general theoretical framework for decoherence is proposed, which encompasses formalisms originally devised to deal just with open or closed systems. The conditions for decoherence are clearly stated and the relaxation and decoherence times are compared. Finally, the spin-bath model is developed in detail from the new perspective.

Measurement-induced decoherence and information in double-slit interference

PubMed Central

Kincaid, Joshua; McLelland, Kyle; Zwolak, Michael

2016-01-01

The double slit experiment provides a classic example of both interference and the effect of observation in quantum physics. When particles are sent individually through a pair of slits, a wave-like interference pattern develops, but no such interference is found when one observes which “path” the particles take. We present a model of interference, dephasing, and measurement-induced decoherence in a one-dimensional version of the double-slit experiment. Using this model, we demonstrate how the loss of interference in the system is correlated with the information gain by the measuring apparatus/observer. In doing so, we give a modern account of measurement in this paradigmatic example of quantum physics that is accessible to students taking quantum mechanics at the graduate or senior undergraduate levels. PMID:27807373

Simulation of n-qubit quantum systems. III. Quantum operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radtke, T.; Fritzsche, S.

2007-05-01

During the last decade, several quantum information protocols, such as quantum key distribution, teleportation or quantum computation, have attracted a lot of interest. Despite the recent success and research efforts in quantum information processing, however, we are just at the beginning of understanding the role of entanglement and the behavior of quantum systems in noisy environments, i.e. for nonideal implementations. Therefore, in order to facilitate the investigation of entanglement and decoherence in n-qubit quantum registers, here we present a revised version of the FEYNMAN program for working with quantum operations and their associated (Jamiołkowski) dual states. Based on the implementation of several popular decoherence models, we provide tools especially for the quantitative analysis of quantum operations. Apart from the implementation of different noise models, the current program extension may help investigate the fragility of many quantum states, one of the main obstacles in realizing quantum information protocols today. Program summaryTitle of program: Feynman Catalogue identifier: ADWE_v3_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADWE_v3_0 Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University of Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: None Operating systems: Any system that supports MAPLE; tested under Microsoft Windows XP, SuSe Linux 10 Program language used:MAPLE 10 Typical time and memory requirements: Most commands that act upon quantum registers with five or less qubits take ⩽10 seconds of processor time (on a Pentium 4 processor with ⩾2 GHz or equivalent) and 5-20 MB of memory. Especially when working with symbolic expressions, however, the memory and time requirements critically depend on the number of qubits in the quantum registers, owing to the exponential dimension growth of the associated Hilbert space. For example, complex (symbolic) noise models (with several Kraus operators) for multi-qubit systems often result in very large symbolic expressions that dramatically slow down the evaluation of measures or other quantities. In these cases, MAPLE's assume facility sometimes helps to reduce the complexity of symbolic expressions, but often only numerical evaluation is possible. Since the complexity of the FEYNMAN commands is very different, no general scaling law for the CPU time and memory usage can be given. No. of bytes in distributed program including test data, etc.: 799 265 No. of lines in distributed program including test data, etc.: 18 589 Distribution format: tar.gz Reasons for new version: While the previous program versions were designed mainly to create and manipulate the state of quantum registers, the present extension aims to support quantum operations as the essential ingredient for studying the effects of noisy environments. Does this version supersede the previous version: Yes Nature of the physical problem: Today, entanglement is identified as the essential resource in virtually all aspects of quantum information theory. In most practical implementations of quantum information protocols, however, decoherence typically limits the lifetime of entanglement. It is therefore necessary and highly desirable to understand the evolution of entanglement in noisy environments. Method of solution: Using the computer algebra system MAPLE, we have developed a set of procedures that support the definition and manipulation of n-qubit quantum registers as well as (unitary) logic gates and (nonunitary) quantum operations that act on the quantum registers. The provided hierarchy of commands can be used interactively in order to simulate and analyze the evolution of n-qubit quantum systems in ideal and nonideal quantum circuits.

Investigating decoherence in a simple system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Albrecht, Andreas

1991-01-01

The results of some simple calculations designed to study quantum decoherence are presented. The physics of quantum decoherence are briefly reviewed, and a very simple 'toy' model is analyzed. Exact solutions are found using numerical techniques. The type of incoherence exhibited by the model can be changed by varying a coupling strength. The author explains why the conventional approach to studying decoherence by checking the diagonality of the density matrix is not always adequate. Two other approaches, the decoherence functional and the Schmidt paths approach, are applied to the toy model and contrasted to each other. Possible problems with each are discussed.

Spin coherence in a Mn3 single-molecule magnet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abeywardana, Chathuranga; Mowson, Andrew M.; Christou, George; Takahashi, Susumu

2016-01-01

Spin coherence in single crystals of the spin S = 6 single-molecule magnet (SMM) [Mn3O(O2CEt)3(mpko)3]+ (abbreviated Mn3) has been investigated using 230 GHz electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Coherence in Mn3 was uncovered by significantly suppressing dipolar contribution to the decoherence with complete spin polarization of Mn3 SMMs. The temperature dependence of spin decoherence time (T2) revealed that the dipolar decoherence is the dominant source of decoherence in Mn3 and T2 can be extended up to 267 ns by quenching the dipolar decoherence.

NMR implementation of adiabatic SAT algorithm using strongly modulated pulses.

PubMed

Mitra, Avik; Mahesh, T S; Kumar, Anil

2008-03-28

NMR implementation of adiabatic algorithms face severe problems in homonuclear spin systems since the qubit selective pulses are long and during this period, evolution under the Hamiltonian and decoherence cause errors. The decoherence destroys the answer as it causes the final state to evolve to mixed state and in homonuclear systems, evolution under the internal Hamiltonian causes phase errors preventing the initial state to converge to the solution state. The resolution of these issues is necessary before one can proceed to implement an adiabatic algorithm in a large system where homonuclear coupled spins will become a necessity. In the present work, we demonstrate that by using "strongly modulated pulses" (SMPs) for the creation of interpolating Hamiltonian, one can circumvent both the problems and successfully implement the adiabatic SAT algorithm in a homonuclear three qubit system. This work also demonstrates that the SMPs tremendously reduce the time taken for the implementation of the algorithm, can overcome problems associated with decoherence, and will be the modality in future implementation of quantum information processing by NMR.

Suppression of electron spin decoherence in Rabi oscillations induced by an inhomogeneous microwave field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saiko, A. P.; Fedaruk, R.; Markevich, S. A.

2018-05-01

The decay of Rabi oscillations provides direct information about coherence of electron spins. When observed in EPR experiments, it is often shortened by spatial inhomogeneity of the microwave field amplitude in a bulk sample. In order to suppress this undesired loss of coherence, we propose an additional dressing of spin states by a weak longitudinal continuous radiofrequency field. The Gaussian, cosine and linear distributions of the microwave amplitude is analyzed. Our calculations of the Rabi oscillations between the doubly dressed spin states show that for all these distributions the maximum suppression of the inhomogeneity-induced decoherence is achieved at the so-called Rabi resonance when the radio-field frequency is in resonance with the Rabi frequency of spins in the microwave field. The manifestations of such suppression in the published EPR experiments with the bichromatic driving are discussed. The realization of the Rabi resonance using the radiofrequency field could open new possibilities for separating the contributions of relaxation mechanisms from those due to the inhomogeneous driving in spin decoherence.

Lessons on electronic decoherence in molecules from exact modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Wenxiang; Gu, Bing; Franco, Ignacio

2018-04-01

Electronic decoherence processes in molecules and materials are usually thought and modeled via schemes for the system-bath evolution in which the bath is treated either implicitly or approximately. Here we present computations of the electronic decoherence dynamics of a model many-body molecular system described by the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Hamiltonian with Hubbard electron-electron interactions using an exact method in which both electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom are taken into account explicitly and fully quantum mechanically. To represent the electron-nuclear Hamiltonian in matrix form and propagate the dynamics, the computations employ the Jordan-Wigner transformation for the fermionic creation/annihilation operators and the discrete variable representation for the nuclear operators. The simulations offer a standard for electronic decoherence that can be used to test approximations. They also provide a useful platform to answer fundamental questions about electronic decoherence that cannot be addressed through approximate or implicit schemes. Specifically, through simulations, we isolate basic mechanisms for electronic coherence loss and demonstrate that electronic decoherence is possible even for one-dimensional nuclear bath. Furthermore, we show that (i) decreasing the mass of the bath generally leads to faster electronic decoherence; (ii) electron-electron interactions strongly affect the electronic decoherence when the electron-nuclear dynamics is not pure-dephasing; (iii) classical bath models with initial conditions sampled from the Wigner distribution accurately capture the short-time electronic decoherence dynamics; (iv) model separable initial superpositions often used to understand decoherence after photoexcitation are only relevant in experiments that employ delta-like laser pulses to initiate the dynamics. These insights can be employed to interpret and properly model coherence phenomena in molecules.

Relaxation and decoherence of qubits encoded in collective states of engineered magnetic structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shakirov, Alexey M.; Rubtsov, Alexey N.; Lichtenstein, Alexander I.; Ribeiro, Pedro

2017-09-01

The quantum nature of a microscopic system can only be revealed when it is sufficiently decoupled from surroundings. Interactions with the environment induce relaxation and decoherence that turn the quantum state into a classical mixture. Here, we study the timescales of these processes for a qubit encoded in the collective state of a set of magnetic atoms deposited on a metallic surface. For that, we provide a generalization of the commonly used definitions of T1 and T2 characterizing relaxation and decoherence rates. We calculate these quantities for several atomic structures, including a collective spin, a setup implementing a decoherence-free subspace, and two examples of spin chains. Our work contributes to the comprehensive understanding of the relaxation and decoherence processes and shows the advantages of the implementation of a decoherence free subspace in these setups.

Long-lived coherence in carotenoids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, J. A.; Cannon, E.; Van Dao, L.; Hannaford, P.; Quiney, H. M.; Nugent, K. A.

2010-08-01

We use two-colour vibronic coherence spectroscopy to observe long-lived vibrational coherences in the ground electronic state of carotenoid molecules, with decoherence times in excess of 1 ps. Lycopene and spheroidene were studied isolated in solution, and within the LH2 light-harvesting complex extracted from purple bacteria. The vibrational coherence time is shown to increase significantly for the carotenoid in the complex, providing further support to previous assertions that long-lived electronic coherences in light-harvesting complexes are facilitated by in-phase motion of the chromophores and surrounding proteins. Using this technique, we are also able to follow the evolution of excited state coherences and find that for carotenoids in the light-harvesting complex the langS2|S0rang superposition remains coherent for more than 70 fs. In addition to the implications of this long electronic decoherence time, the extended coherence allows us to observe the evolution of the excited state wavepacket. These experiments reveal an enhancement of the vibronic coupling to the first vibrational level of the C-C stretching mode and/or methyl-rocking mode in the ground electronic state 70 fs after the initial excitation. These observations open the door to future experiments and modelling that may be able to resolve the relaxation dynamics of carotenoids in solution and in natural light-harvesting systems.

Nonadiabatic holonomic quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces.

PubMed

Xu, G F; Zhang, J; Tong, D M; Sjöqvist, Erik; Kwek, L C

2012-10-26

Quantum computation that combines the coherence stabilization virtues of decoherence-free subspaces and the fault tolerance of geometric holonomic control is of great practical importance. Some schemes of adiabatic holonomic quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces have been proposed in the past few years. However, nonadiabatic holonomic quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces, which avoids a long run-time requirement but with all the robust advantages, remains an open problem. Here, we demonstrate how to realize nonadiabatic holonomic quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces. By using only three neighboring physical qubits undergoing collective dephasing to encode one logical qubit, we realize a universal set of quantum gates.

Thermal Quantum Correlations in Photosynthetic Light-Harvesting Complexes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahdian, M.; Kouhestani, H.

2015-08-01

Photosynthesis is one of the ancient biological processes, playing crucial role converting solar energy to cellular usable currency. Environmental factors and external perturbations has forced nature to choose systems with the highest efficiency and performance. Recent theoretical and experimental studies have proved the presence of quantum properties in biological systems. Energy transfer systems like Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) complex shows quantum entanglement between sites of Bacteriophylla molecules in protein environment and presence of decoherence. Complex biological systems implement more truthful mechanisms beside chemical-quantum correlations to assure system's efficiency. In this study we investigate thermal quantum correlations in FMO protein of the photosynthetic apparatus of green sulfur bacteria by quantum discord measure. The results confirmed existence of remarkable quantum correlations of of BChla pigments in room temperature. This results approve involvement of quantum correlation mechanisms for information storage and retention in living organisms that could be useful for further evolutionary studies. Inspired idea of this study is potentially interesting to practice by the same procedure in genetic data transfer mechanisms.

Dissipation Assisted Quantum Memory with Coupled Spin Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Liang; Verstraete, Frank; Cirac, Ignacio; Lukin, Mikhail

2009-05-01

Dissipative dynamics often destroys quantum coherences. However, one can use dissipation to suppress decoherence. A well-known example is the so-called quantum Zeno effect, in which one can freeze the evolution using dissipative processes (e.g., frequently projecting the system to its initial state). Similarly, the undesired decoherence of quantum bits can also be suppressed using controlled dissipation. We propose and analyze the use of this generalization of quantum Zeno effect for protecting the quantum information encoded in the coupled spin systems. This new approach may potentially enhance the performance of quantum memories, in systems such as nitrogen-vacancy color-centers in diamond.

Modeling decoherence with qubits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heusler, Stefan; Dür, Wolfgang

2018-03-01

Quantum effects like the superposition principle contradict our experience of daily life. Decoherence can be viewed as a possible explanation why we do not observe quantum superposition states in the macroscopic world. In this article, we use the qubit ansatz to discuss decoherence in the simplest possible model system and propose a visualization for the microscopic origin of decoherence, and the emergence of a so-called pointer basis. Finally, we discuss the possibility of ‘macroscopic’ quantum effects.

Robust quantum secure direct communication and authentication protocol against decoherence noise based on six-qubit DF state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Yan; Zhang, Shi-Bin; Yan, Li-Li; Han, Gui-Hua

2015-05-01

By using six-qubit decoherence-free (DF) states as quantum carriers and decoy states, a robust quantum secure direct communication and authentication (QSDCA) protocol against decoherence noise is proposed. Four six-qubit DF states are used in the process of secret transmission, however only the |0‧⟩ state is prepared. The other three six-qubit DF states can be obtained by permuting the outputs of the setup for |0‧⟩. By using the |0‧⟩ state as the decoy state, the detection rate and the qubit error rate reach 81.3%, and they will not change with the noise level. The stability and security are much higher than those of the ping-pong protocol both in an ideal scenario and a decoherence noise scenario. Even if the eavesdropper measures several qubits, exploiting the coherent relationship between these qubits, she can gain one bit of secret information with probability 0.042. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61402058), the Science and Technology Support Project of Sichuan Province of China (Grant No. 2013GZX0137), the Fund for Young Persons Project of Sichuan Province of China (Grant No. 12ZB017), and the Foundation of Cyberspace Security Key Laboratory of Sichuan Higher Education Institutions, China (Grant No. szjj2014-074).

An information theory model for dissipation in open quantum systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogers, David M.

2017-08-01

This work presents a general model for open quantum systems using an information game along the lines of Jaynes’ original work. It is shown how an energy based reweighting of propagators provides a novel moment generating function at each time point in the process. Derivatives of the generating function give moments of the time derivatives of observables. Aside from the mathematically helpful properties, the ansatz reproduces key physics of stochastic quantum processes. At high temperature, the average density matrix follows the Caldeira-Leggett equation. Its associated Langevin equation clearly demonstrates the emergence of dissipation and decoherence time scales, as well as an additional diffusion due to quantum confinement. A consistent interpretation of these results is that decoherence and wavefunction collapse during measurement are directly related to the degree of environmental noise, and thus occur because of subjective uncertainty of an observer.

Instantaneous and dynamical decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polonyi, Janos

2018-04-01

Two manifestations of decoherence, called instantaneous and dynamical, are investigated. The former reflects the suppression of the interference between the components of the current state while the latter reflects that within the initial state. These types of decoherence are computed in the case of the Brownian motion and the harmonic and anharmonic oscillators within the semiclassical approximation. A remarkable phenomenon, namely the opposite orientation of the time arrow of the dynamical variables compared to that of the quantum fluctuations generates a double exponential time dependence of the dynamical decoherence in the presence of a harmonic force. For the weakly anharmonic oscillator the dynamical decoherence is found to depend in a singular way on the amount of the anharmonicity.

Loschmidt echo in many-spin systems: a quest for intrinsic decoherence and emergent irreversibility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zangara, Pablo R.; Pastawski, Horacio M.

2017-03-01

If a magnetic polarization excess is locally injected in a crystal of interacting spins in thermal equilibrium, this ‘excitation’ would spread as consequence of spin-spin interactions. Such an apparently irreversible process is known as spin diffusion and it can lead the system back to ‘equilibrium’. Even so, a unitary quantum dynamics would ensure a precise memory of the non-equilibrium initial condition. Then, if at a certain time, say t/2, an experimental protocol reverses the many-body dynamics by changing the sign of the effective Hamiltonian, it would drive the system back to the initial non-equilibrium state at time t. As a matter of fact, the reversal is always perturbed by small experimental imperfections and/or uncontrolled internal or environmental degrees of freedom. This limits the amount of signal M(t) recovered locally at time t. The degradation of M(t) accounts for these perturbations, which can also be seen as the sources of decoherence. This general idea defines the Loschmidt echo (LE), which embodies the various time-reversal procedures implemented in nuclear magnetic resonance. Here, we present an invitation to the study of the LE following the pathway induced by the experiments. With such a purpose, we provide a historical and conceptual overview that briefly revisits selected phenomena that underlie the LE dynamics including chaos, decoherence, localization and equilibration. This guiding thread ultimately leads us to the discussion of decoherence and irreversibility as an emergent phenomenon. In addition, we introduce the LE formalism by means of spin-spin correlation functions in a manner suitable for presentation in a broad scope physics journal. Last, but not least, we present new results that could trigger new experiments and theoretical ideas. In particular, we propose to transform an initially localized excitation into a more complex initial state, enabling a dynamically prepared LE. This induces a global definition of the LE in terms of the raw overlap between many-body wave functions. Our results show that as the complexity of the prepared state increases, it becomes more fragile towards small perturbations.

Monte Carlo simulation based on dynamic disorder model in organic semiconductors: From coherent to incoherent transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Yao; Si, Wei; Hou, Xiaoyuan; Wu, Chang-Qin

2012-06-01

The dynamic disorder model for charge carrier transport in organic semiconductors has been extensively studied in recent years. Although it is successful on determining the value of bandlike mobility in the organic crystalline materials, the incoherent hopping, the typical transport characteristic in amorphous molecular semiconductors, cannot be described. In this work, the decoherence process is taken into account via a phenomenological parameter, say, decoherence time, and the projective and Monte Carlo method are applied for this model to determine the waiting time and thus the diffusion coefficient. It is obtained that the type of transport is changed from coherent to incoherent with a sufficiently short decoherence time, which indicates the essential role of decoherence time in determining the type of transport in organics. We have also discussed the spatial extent of carriers for different decoherence time, and the transition from delocalization (carrier resides in about 10 molecules) to localization is observed. Based on the experimental results of spatial extent, we estimate that the decoherence time in pentacene has the order of 1 ps. Furthermore, the dependence of diffusion coefficient on decoherence time is also investigated, and corresponding experiments are discussed.

Monte Carlo simulation based on dynamic disorder model in organic semiconductors: from coherent to incoherent transport.

PubMed

Yao, Yao; Si, Wei; Hou, Xiaoyuan; Wu, Chang-Qin

2012-06-21

The dynamic disorder model for charge carrier transport in organic semiconductors has been extensively studied in recent years. Although it is successful on determining the value of bandlike mobility in the organic crystalline materials, the incoherent hopping, the typical transport characteristic in amorphous molecular semiconductors, cannot be described. In this work, the decoherence process is taken into account via a phenomenological parameter, say, decoherence time, and the projective and Monte Carlo method are applied for this model to determine the waiting time and thus the diffusion coefficient. It is obtained that the type of transport is changed from coherent to incoherent with a sufficiently short decoherence time, which indicates the essential role of decoherence time in determining the type of transport in organics. We have also discussed the spatial extent of carriers for different decoherence time, and the transition from delocalization (carrier resides in about 10 molecules) to localization is observed. Based on the experimental results of spatial extent, we estimate that the decoherence time in pentacene has the order of 1 ps. Furthermore, the dependence of diffusion coefficient on decoherence time is also investigated, and corresponding experiments are discussed.

PREFACE: 5th International Workshop DICE2010: Space-Time-Matter - Current Issues in Quantum Mechanics and Beyond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diósi, Lajos; Elze, Hans-Thomas; Fronzoni, Leone; Halliwell, Jonathan; Prati, Enrico; Vitiello, Giuseppe; Yearsley, James

2011-07-01

These proceedings present the Invited Lectures and Contributed Papers of the Fifth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2010, held at Castello Pasquini, Castiglioncello (Tuscany), 13-17 September 2010. These proceedings are intended to document the stimulating exchange of ideas at this conference for both the interested public and the wider scientific community, as well as for the participants. The number of participants attending this series of meetings has been growing steadily, which reflects its increasing attraction. Our intention to bring together leading researchers, advanced students, and renowned scholars from various areas in order to stimulate new ideas and their exchange across the borders of specialization seems to bear fruit. In this way, the series of meetings has continued successfully from the beginning with DICE 2002 [1], followed by DICE 2004 [2], DICE 2006 [3], and DICE 2008 [4], uniting more than 100 participants representing almost 30 countries worldwide. It has been a great honour and inspiration to have Professor Luc Montagnier (Nobel Prize for Medicine 2008) from the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention with us, who presented the lecture DNA waves and water (included in this volume). The discussions took place under the wider theme Space-Time-Matter - current issues in quantum mechanics and beyond in the very pleasant and inspiring atmosphere of Castello Pasquini, which - with its beautiful surroundings, overlooking the Tuscany coast - hosted the conference very successfully for the second time. The five-day program was grouped according to the following topics: Gravity and Quantum Mechanics Quantum Coherent Processes in Biology / Many-Body Systems From Quantum Foundations to Particle Physics The Deep Structure of Spacetime Quantum - Relativity - Cosmology A Public Roundtable Discussion formed an integral part of the program under the theme Sull' Onda Della Coerenza" - le nuove frontiere della scienza moderna with the participation of E Del Giudice (INFN & Università di Milano), L Fronzoni (Università di Pisa) and G Vitiello (Università di Salerno). By now forming a tradition, this evening event drew a large audience, who participated in lively discussions until late. The workshop was organized by L Diósi (Budapest), H-T Elze (Pisa, chair), L Fronzoni (Pisa), J Halliwell (London), E Prati (Milano) and G Vitiello (Salerno), with essential help from our conference seceretaries M Pesce-Rollins and L Baldini and from our students G Gambarotta and F Vallone, all from Pisa. Several institutions and sponsors supported the workshop; their representatives and, in particular, the citizens of Rosignano / Castiglioncello are deeply thanked for their generous help and kind hospitality: Comune di Rosignano - A Franchi (Sindaco di Rosignano), S Scarpellini (Segreteria sindaco), L Benini (Assessore ai lavori pubblici), M Pia (Assessore all' urbanistica). REA Rosignano Energia Ambiente s.p.a. - F Ghelardini (Presidente della REA), E Salvadori (Segreteria). Associazione Armunia - M Paganelli (Direttore), G Mannari (Programmazione). Special thanks go to G Mannari and her collaborators for their advice and great help in all the practical matters that had to be dealt with in order to run the meeting at Castello Pasquini smoothly. Funds made available by Università di Pisa, by Domus Galilaeana (Pisa), Centro Interdisciplinare per lo Studio dei Sistemi Complessi - CISSC (Pisa), Dipartmento di Matematica e Informatica (Università di Salerno), Instituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici - IISF (Napoli), and by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund OTKA, are gratefully ackowledged. Last, but not least, special thanks are due to Laura Pesce (Vitrium Galleria, San Vincenzo) for the exposition for her artwork Dal io al cosmo at Castello Pasquini during the conference. The papers presented at the workshop and collected here have been edited by L Diósi, H-T Elze, L Fronzoni, J J Halliwell, E Prati, G Vitiello and J Yearsley. The proceedings essentially follow the order of presentation during the conference program, however, divided into Invited Lectures and Contributed Papers. (We regret that lectures by D Bouwmeester, G G Guerreschi, G C Ghirardi and C Kiefer could not be reproduced here, partly for copyright reasons.) In the name of all the participants, we would like to thank S Toms and G Douglas, and their collaborators at IOP Publishing (Bristol) for their friendly advice and most valuable and immediate help during the editing process and, especially, for their continuing efforts to make the Journal of Physics: Conference Series available to all. Budapest, Pisa, London, Milano and Salerno, May 2011 Lajos Diósi, Hans-Thomas Elze, Leone Fronzoni, Jonathan Halliwell, Enrico Prati, Guiseppe Vitiello and James Yearsley [1] Elze H-T (ed) 2004 Decoherence and Entropy in Complex Systems Lecture Notes in Physics 633 (Berlin: Springer) [2] Elze H-T (ed) 2005 Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2004 Braz. Journ. Phys. 35 2A and B pp 205-529free access at: www.sbfisica.org.br/bjp[3] Elze H-T, Diósi L, Fronzoni L, Halliwell J J and Vitiello (eds) 2007 Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2006 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 67free access at: www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/67/1[4] Elze H-T, Diósi L, Fronzoni L, Halliwell J J and G Vitiello (eds) 2009 Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2008 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 174free access at: www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/67/1

Tailoring decoherence in nanomagnets by geometrical design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delgado, Fernando; FernáNdez-Rossier, JoaquíN.

Magnetic atoms on surfaces suffer relaxation and decoherence, which limit their possible applications in both classical storage and quantum computation. Kondo exchange interaction is usually the dominant source of relaxation. Hence, for a single magnetic impurity, the product of density of states at the Fermi level and the Kondo coupling controls relaxation and decoherence together with the renormalization of the magnetic anisotropy. Here we show that in the case of small arrays of magnetic adatoms, which can be build by STM manipulation, relaxation and decoherence are controlled in addition by the product of Fermi wavenumber and inter-spin distance, giving place to interesting interference phenomena similar to those appearing in optics. This is nothing else that the dissipative counterpart of the RKKY oscillation. In addition, we explore different configurations to reduce the spin decoherence of antiferromagnetic spin arrays opening a route to engineer spin relaxation and decoherence in atomically designed spin structures. Financial support by Spanish Government through Grants FIS2013-473228 and MAT2015-66888-C3-2-R.

Redundant information encoding in QED during decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuziemski, J.; Witas, P.; Korbicz, J. K.

2018-01-01

Broadly understood decoherence processes in quantum electrodynamics, induced by neglecting either the radiation [L. Landau, Z. Phys. 45, 430 (1927), 10.1007/BF01343064] or the charged matter [N. Bohr and L. Rosenfeld, K. Danske Vidensk. Selsk, Math.-Fys. Medd. XII, 8 (1933)], have been studied from the dawn of the theory. However, what happens in between, when a part of the radiation may be observed, as is the case in many real-life situations, has not been analyzed yet. We present such an analysis for a nonrelativistic, pointlike charge and thermal radiation. In the dipole approximation, we solve the dynamics and show that there is a regime where, despite the noise, the observed field carries away almost perfect and hugely redundant information about the charge momentum. We analyze a partial charge-field state and show that it approaches a so-called spectrum broadcast structure.

Quantum effects in energy and charge transfer in an artificial photosynthetic complex

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ghosh, Pulak Kumar; Smirnov, Anatoly Yu.; Nori, Franco

2011-06-28

We investigate the quantum dynamics of energy and charge transfer in a wheel-shaped artificial photosynthetic antenna-reaction center complex. This complex consists of six light-harvesting chromophores and an electron-acceptor fullerene. To describe quantum effects on a femtosecond time scale, we derive the set of exact non-Markovian equations for the Heisenberg operators of this photosynthetic complex in contact with a Gaussian heat bath. With these equations we can analyze the regime of strong system-bath interactions, where reorganization energies are of the order of the intersite exciton couplings. We show that the energy of the initially excited antenna chromophores is efficiently funneled tomore » the porphyrin-fullerene reaction center, where a charge-separated state is set up in a few picoseconds, with a quantum yield of the order of 95%. In the single-exciton regime, with one antenna chromophore being initially excited, we observe quantum beatings of energy between two resonant antenna chromophores with a decoherence time of {approx}100 fs. We also analyze the double-exciton regime, when two porphyrin molecules involved in the reaction center are initially excited. In this regime we obtain pronounced quantum oscillations of the charge on the fullerene molecule with a decoherence time of about 20 fs (at liquid nitrogen temperatures). These results show a way to directly detect quantum effects in artificial photosynthetic systems.« less

Quantum irreversible decoherence behaviour in open quantum systems with few degrees of freedom: Application to 1H NMR reversion experiments in nematic liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Segnorile, H. H.; Zamar, R. C.

2013-10-01

An experimental study of NMR spin decoherence in nematic liquid crystals is presented. Decoherence dynamics can be put in evidence by means of refocusing experiments of the dipolar interactions. The experimental technique used in this work is based on the MREV8 pulse sequence. The aim of the work is to detect the main features of the irreversible quantum decoherence in liquid crystals, on the basis of the theory presented by the authors recently. The focus is laid on experimentally probing the eigen-selection process in the intermediate time scale, between quantum interference of a closed system and thermalization, as a signature of the quantum spin decoherence of the open quantum system, as well as on quantifying the effects of non-idealities as possible sources of signal decays which could mask the intrinsic decoherence. In order to contrast experiment and theory, the theory was adapted to obtain the decoherence function corresponding to the MREV8 reversion experiments. Non-idealities of the experimental setting, like external field inhomogeneity, pulse misadjustments, and the presence of non-reverted spin interaction terms are analysed in detail within this framework, and their effects on the observed signal decay are numerically estimated. It is found that though all these non-idealities could in principle affect the evolution of the spin dynamics, their influence can be mitigated and they do not present the characteristic behaviour of the irreversible spin decoherence. As unique characteristic of decoherence, the experimental results clearly show the occurrence of eigen-selectivity in the intermediate timescale, in complete agreement with the theoretical predictions. We conclude that the eigen-selection effect is the fingerprint of decoherence associated with a quantum open spin system in liquid crystals. Besides, these features of the results account for the quasi-equilibrium states of the spin system, which were observed previously in these mesophases, and lead to conclude that the quasi-equilibrium is a definite stage of the spin dynamics during its evolution towards equilibrium.

Holonomic quantum computation in the presence of decoherence.

PubMed

Fuentes-Guridi, I; Girelli, F; Livine, E

2005-01-21

We present a scheme to study non-Abelian adiabatic holonomies for open Markovian systems. As an application of our framework, we analyze the robustness of holonomic quantum computation against decoherence. We pinpoint the sources of error that must be corrected to achieve a geometric implementation of quantum computation completely resilient to Markovian decoherence.

Non-exponential decoherence of radio-frequency resonance rotation of spin in storage rings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saleev, A.; Nikolaev, N. N.; Rathmann, F.; Hinder, F.; Pretz, J.; Rosenthal, M.

2017-08-01

Precision experiments, such as the search for electric dipole moments of charged particles using radio-frequency spin rotators in storage rings, demand for maintaining the exact spin resonance condition for several thousand seconds. Synchrotron oscillations in the stored beam modulate the spin tune of off-central particles, moving it off the perfect resonance condition set for central particles on the reference orbit. Here, we report an analytic description of how synchrotron oscillations lead to non-exponential decoherence of the radio-frequency resonance driven up-down spin rotations. This non-exponential decoherence is shown to be accompanied by a nontrivial walk of the spin phase. We also comment on sensitivity of the decoherence rate to the harmonics of the radio-frequency spin rotator and a possibility to check predictions of decoherence-free magic energies.

Nonexponential Decoherence and Momentum Subdiffusion in a Quantum Lévy Kicked Rotator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schomerus, Henning; Lutz, Eric

2007-06-01

We investigate decoherence in the quantum kicked rotator (modeling cold atoms in a pulsed optical field) subjected to noise with power-law tail waiting-time distributions of variable exponent (Lévy noise). We demonstrate the existence of a regime of nonexponential decoherence where the notion of a decoherence rate is ill defined. In this regime, dynamical localization is never fully destroyed, indicating that the dynamics of the quantum system never reaches the classical limit. We show that this leads to quantum subdiffusion of the momentum, which should be observable in an experiment.

Monitoring ion-channel function in real time through quantum decoherence

PubMed Central

Hall, Liam T.; Hill, Charles D.; Cole, Jared H.; Städler, Brigitte; Caruso, Frank; Mulvaney, Paul; Wrachtrup, Jörg; Hollenberg, Lloyd C. L.

2010-01-01

In drug discovery, there is a clear and urgent need for detection of cell-membrane ion-channel operation with wide-field capability. Existing techniques are generally invasive or require specialized nanostructures. We show that quantum nanotechnology could provide a solution. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in nanodiamond is of great interest as a single-atom quantum probe for nanoscale processes. However, until now nothing was known about the quantum behavior of a NV probe in a complex biological environment. We explore the quantum dynamics of a NV probe in proximity to the ion channel, lipid bilayer, and surrounding aqueous environment. Our theoretical results indicate that real-time detection of ion-channel operation at millisecond resolution is possible by directly monitoring the quantum decoherence of the NV probe. With the potential to scan and scale up to an array-based system, this conclusion may have wide-ranging implications for nanoscale biology and drug discovery. PMID:20937908

Monitoring ion-channel function in real time through quantum decoherence.

PubMed

Hall, Liam T; Hill, Charles D; Cole, Jared H; Städler, Brigitte; Caruso, Frank; Mulvaney, Paul; Wrachtrup, Jörg; Hollenberg, Lloyd C L

2010-11-02

In drug discovery, there is a clear and urgent need for detection of cell-membrane ion-channel operation with wide-field capability. Existing techniques are generally invasive or require specialized nanostructures. We show that quantum nanotechnology could provide a solution. The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in nanodiamond is of great interest as a single-atom quantum probe for nanoscale processes. However, until now nothing was known about the quantum behavior of a NV probe in a complex biological environment. We explore the quantum dynamics of a NV probe in proximity to the ion channel, lipid bilayer, and surrounding aqueous environment. Our theoretical results indicate that real-time detection of ion-channel operation at millisecond resolution is possible by directly monitoring the quantum decoherence of the NV probe. With the potential to scan and scale up to an array-based system, this conclusion may have wide-ranging implications for nanoscale biology and drug discovery.

Decoherence induced deformation of the ground state in adiabatic quantum computation.

PubMed

Deng, Qiang; Averin, Dmitri V; Amin, Mohammad H; Smith, Peter

2013-01-01

Despite more than a decade of research on adiabatic quantum computation (AQC), its decoherence properties are still poorly understood. Many theoretical works have suggested that AQC is more robust against decoherence, but a quantitative relation between its performance and the qubits' coherence properties, such as decoherence time, is still lacking. While the thermal excitations are known to be important sources of errors, they are predominantly dependent on temperature but rather insensitive to the qubits' coherence. Less understood is the role of virtual excitations, which can also reduce the ground state probability even at zero temperature. Here, we introduce normalized ground state fidelity as a measure of the decoherence-induced deformation of the ground state due to virtual transitions. We calculate the normalized fidelity perturbatively at finite temperatures and discuss its relation to the qubits' relaxation and dephasing times, as well as its projected scaling properties.

Decoherence induced deformation of the ground state in adiabatic quantum computation

PubMed Central

Deng, Qiang; Averin, Dmitri V.; Amin, Mohammad H.; Smith, Peter

2013-01-01

Despite more than a decade of research on adiabatic quantum computation (AQC), its decoherence properties are still poorly understood. Many theoretical works have suggested that AQC is more robust against decoherence, but a quantitative relation between its performance and the qubits' coherence properties, such as decoherence time, is still lacking. While the thermal excitations are known to be important sources of errors, they are predominantly dependent on temperature but rather insensitive to the qubits' coherence. Less understood is the role of virtual excitations, which can also reduce the ground state probability even at zero temperature. Here, we introduce normalized ground state fidelity as a measure of the decoherence-induced deformation of the ground state due to virtual transitions. We calculate the normalized fidelity perturbatively at finite temperatures and discuss its relation to the qubits' relaxation and dephasing times, as well as its projected scaling properties. PMID:23528821

Sensing spontaneous collapse and decoherence with interfering Bose-Einstein condensates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schrinski, Björn; Hornberger, Klaus; Nimmrichter, Stefan

2017-12-01

We study how matter-wave interferometry with Bose-Einstein condensates is affected by hypothetical collapse models and by environmental decoherence processes. Motivated by recent atom fountain experiments with macroscopic arm separations, we focus on the observable signatures of first-order and higher-order coherence for different two-mode superposition states, and on their scaling with particle number. This can be used not only to assess the impact of environmental decoherence on many-body coherence, but also to quantify the extent to which macrorealistic collapse models are ruled out by such experiments. We find that interference fringes of phase-coherently split condensates are most strongly affected by decoherence, whereas the quantum signatures of independent interfering condensates are more immune against macrorealistic collapse. A many-body enhanced decoherence effect beyond the level of a single atom can be probed if higher-order correlations are resolved in the interferogram.

Electron Spin Dephasing and Decoherence by Interaction with Nuclear Spins in Self-Assembled Quantum Dots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, Seungwon; vonAllmen, Paul; Oyafuso, Fabiano; Klimeck, Gerhard; Whale, K. Birgitta

2004-01-01

Electron spin dephasing and decoherence by its interaction with nuclear spins in self-assembled quantum dots are investigated in the framework of the empirical tight-binding model. Electron spin dephasing in an ensemble of dots is induced by the inhomogeneous precession frequencies of the electron among dots, while electron spin decoherence in a single dot arises from the inhomogeneous precession frequencies of nuclear spins in the dot. For In(x)Ga(1-x) As self-assembled dots containing 30000 nuclei, the dephasing and decoherence times are predicted to be on the order of 100 ps and 1 (micro)s.

Adiabatic evolution of decoherence-free subspaces and its shortcuts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, S. L.; Huang, X. L.; Li, H.; Yi, X. X.

2017-10-01

The adiabatic theorem and shortcuts to adiabaticity for time-dependent open quantum systems are explored in this paper. Starting from the definition of dynamical stable decoherence-free subspace, we show that, under a compact adiabatic condition, the quantum state remains in the time-dependent decoherence-free subspace with an extremely high purity, even though the dynamics of the open quantum system may not be adiabatic. The adiabatic condition mentioned here in the adiabatic theorem for open systems is very similar to that for closed quantum systems, except that the operators required to change slowly are the Lindblad operators. We also show that the adiabatic evolution of decoherence-free subspaces depends on the existence of instantaneous decoherence-free subspaces, which requires that the Hamiltonian of open quantum systems be engineered according to the incoherent control protocol. In addition, shortcuts to adiabaticity for adiabatic decoherence-free subspaces are also presented based on the transitionless quantum driving method. Finally, we provide an example that consists of a two-level system coupled to a broadband squeezed vacuum field to show our theory. Our approach employs Markovian master equations and the theory can apply to finite-dimensional quantum open systems.

Sampled-data design for sliding mode control based on various robust specifications in open quantum system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Yinghua; Ju-Ju, Hu; Jian-Hua, Huang; Qiang, Ke

Due to the influence of decoherence, the quantum state probably evolves from the initial pure state to the mixed state, resulting in loss of fidelity, coherence and purity, which is deteriorating for quantum information transmission. Thus, in quantum engineering, quantum control should not only realize the transfer and track of quantum states through manipulation of the external electromagnetic field but also enhance the robustness against decoherence. In this paper, we aim to design a control law to steer the system into the sliding mode domain and maintain it in that domain when bounded uncertainties exist in the system Hamiltonian. We first define the required control performance by fidelity, degree of coherence and purity in terms of the uncertainty of the Hamiltonian in Markovian open quantum system. By characterizing the required robustness using a sliding mode domain, a sampled-data design method is introduced for decoherence control in the quantum system. Furthermore, utilizing the sampled data, a control scheme has been designed on the basis of sliding mode control, and the choice of sampling operator and driving of quantum state during the sampling by the Lyapunov control method are discussed.

Many worlds in perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Päs, Heinrich

2017-08-01

A minimal approach to the measurement problem and the quantum-to-classical transition assumes a universally valid quantum formalism, i.e. unitary time evolution governed by a Schrödinger-type equation. As had been pointed out long ago, in this view the measurement process can be described by decoherence which results in a ”Many-Worlds” or ”Many-Minds” scenario according to Everett and Zeh. A silent assumption for decoherence to proceed is however, that there exists incomplete information about the environment our object system gets entangled with in the measurement process. This paper addresses the question where this information is traced out and - by adopting recent approaches to model consciousness in neuroscience - argues that a rigorous interpretation results in a perspectival notion of the quantum-to-classical transition. The information that is or is not available in the consciousness of the observer is crucial for the definition of the environment (i.e. the unknown degrees of freedom in the remainder of the Universe). As such the Many-Worlds-Interpretation, while being difficult or impossible to probe in physics, may become testable in psychology.

Application of quantum Darwinism to a structured environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pleasance, Graeme; Garraway, Barry M.

2017-12-01

Quantum Darwinism extends the traditional formalism of decoherence to explain the emergence of classicality in a quantum universe. A classical description emerges when the environment tends to redundantly acquire information about the pointer states of an open system. In light of recent interest, we apply the theoretical tools of the framework to a qubit coupled with many bosonic subenvironments. We examine the degree to which the same classical information is encoded across collections of (i) complete subenvironments and (ii) residual "pseudomode" components of each subenvironment, the conception of which provides a dynamic representation of the reservoir memory. Overall, significant redundancy of information is found as a typical result of the decoherence process. However, by examining its decomposition in terms of classical and quantum correlations, we discover classical information to be nonredundant in both cases i and ii. Moreover, with the full collection of pseudomodes, certain dynamical regimes realize opposite effects, where either the total classical or quantum correlations predominantly decay over time. Finally, when the dynamics are non-Markovian, we find that redundant information is suppressed in line with information backflow to the qubit. By quantifying redundancy, we concretely show it to act as a witness to non-Markovianity in the same way as the trace distance does for nondivisible dynamical maps.

Quantum dynamics characteristic and the flow of information for an open quantum system under relativistic motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Wen-Yang; Wang, Dong; Fang, Bao-Long; Ye, Liu

2018-03-01

In this letter, the dynamics characteristics of quantum entanglement (negativity) and distinguishability (trace distance), and the flow of information for an open quantum system under relativistic motion are investigated. Explicitly, we propose a scenario that a particle A held by Alice suffers from an amplitude damping (AD) noise in a flat space-time and another particle B by Bob entangled with A travels with a fixed acceleration under a non-inertial frame. The results show that quantum distinguishability and entanglement are very vulnerable and fragile under the collective influence of AD noise and Unruh effect. Both of them will decrease with the growing intensity of the Unruh effect and the AD thermal bath. It means that the abilities of quantum distinguishability and entanglement to suppress the collective decoherence (AD noise and Unruh effect) are very weak. Furthermore, it turns out that the reduced quantum distinguishability of Alice’s system and Bob in the physically accessible region is distributed to another quantum distinguishability for Alice’s environment and Bob in the physically inaccessible region. That is, the information regarding the scenario is that the lost quantum distinguishability, as a fixed information, flows from the systems to the collective decoherence environment.

Environment as a witness: Selective proliferation of information and emergence of objectivity in a quantum universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ollivier, Harold; Poulin, David; Zurek, Wojciech H.

2005-10-01

We study the role of the information deposited in the environment of an open quantum system in the course of the decoherence process. Redundant spreading of information—the fact that some observables of the system can be independently read off from many distinct fragments of the environment—is investigated as the key to effective objectivity, the essential ingredient of classical reality. This focus on the environment as a communication channel through which observers learn about physical systems underscores the importance of quantum Darwinism—selective proliferation of information about “the fittest states” chosen by the dynamics of decoherence at the expense of their superpositions—as redundancy imposes the existence of preferred observables. We demonstrate that the only observables that can leave multiple imprints in the environment are the familiar pointer observables singled out by environment-induced superselection (einselection) for their predictability. Many independent observers monitoring the environment will therefore agree on properties of the system as they can only learn about preferred observables. In this operational sense, the selective spreading of information leads to appearance of an objective classical reality from within the quantum substrate.

Parameter estimation by decoherence in the double-slit experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumura, Akira; Ikeda, Taishi; Kukita, Shingo

2018-06-01

We discuss a parameter estimation problem using quantum decoherence in the double-slit interferometer. We consider a particle coupled to a massive scalar field after the particle passing through the double slit and solve the dynamics non-perturbatively for the coupling by the WKB approximation. This allows us to analyze the estimation problem which cannot be treated by master equation used in the research of quantum probe. In this model, the scalar field reduces the interference fringes of the particle and the fringe pattern depends on the field mass and coupling. To evaluate the contrast and the estimation precision obtained from the pattern, we introduce the interferometric visibility and the Fisher information matrix of the field mass and coupling. For the fringe pattern observed on the distant screen, we derive a simple relation between the visibility and the Fisher matrix. Also, focusing on the estimation precision of the mass, we find that the Fisher information characterizes the wave-particle duality in the double-slit interferometer.

Coherence properties of the 0-π qubit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groszkowski, Peter; Di Paolo, A.; Grimsmo, A. L.; Blais, A.; Schuster, D. I.; Houck, A. A.; Koch, Jens

2018-04-01

Superconducting circuits rank among some of the most interesting architectures for the implementation of quantum information processing devices. The recently proposed 0-π qubit (Brooks et al 2013 Phys. Rev. A 87 52306) promises increased protection from spontaneous relaxation and dephasing. In this paper we present a detailed theoretical study of the coherence properties of the 0-π device, investigate relevant decoherence channels, and show estimates for achievable coherence times in multiple parameter regimes. In our analysis, we include disorder in circuit parameters, which results in the coupling of the qubit to a low-energy, spurious harmonic mode. We analyze the effects of such coupling on decoherence, in particular dephasing due to photon shot noise, and outline how such a noise channel can be mitigated by appropriate parameter choices. In the end we find that the 0-π qubit performs well and may become an attractive candidate for the implementation of the next-generation superconducting devices for uses in quantum computing and information.

Experimental metaphysics2 : The double standard in the quantum-information approach to the foundations of quantum theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hagar, Amit

Among the alternatives of non-relativistic quantum mechanics (NRQM) there are those that give different predictions than quantum mechanics in yet-untested circumstances, while remaining compatible with current empirical findings. In order to test these predictions, one must isolate one's system from environmental induced decoherence, which, on the standard view of NRQM, is the dynamical mechanism that is responsible for the 'apparent' collapse in open quantum systems. But while recent advances in condensed-matter physics may lead in the near future to experimental setups that will allow one to test the two hypotheses, namely genuine collapse vs. decoherence, hence make progress toward a solution to the quantum measurement problem, those philosophers and physicists who are advocating an information-theoretic approach to the foundations of quantum mechanics are still unwilling to acknowledge the empirical character of the issue at stake. Here I argue that in doing so they are displaying an unwarranted double standard.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ritter, William Gordon

Since there are many examples in which no decoherence-free subsystems exist (among them all cases where the error generators act irreducibly on the system Hilbert space), it is of interest to search for novel mechanisms which suppress decoherence in these more general cases. Drawing on recent work (quant-ph/0502153) we present three results which indicate decoherence suppression without the need for noiseless subsystems. There is a certain trade-off; our results do not necessarily apply to an arbitrary initial density matrix or for completely generic noise parameters. On the other hand, our computational methods are novel and the result--suppression of decoherence inmore » the error-algebra approach without noiseless subsystems--is an interesting new direction.« less

Decoherence, matter effect, and neutrino hierarchy signature in long baseline experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coelho, João A. B.; Mann, W. Anthony

2017-11-01

Environmental decoherence of oscillating neutrinos of strength Γ =(2.3 ±1.1 )×10-23 GeV can explain how maximal θ23 mixing observed at 295 km by T2K appears to be nonmaximal at longer baselines. As shown recently by R. Oliveira, the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein matter effect for neutrinos is altered by decoherence: in normal (inverted) mass hierarchy, a resonant enhancement of νμ(ν¯ μ)→νe(ν¯ e) occurs for 6

Temperature crossover of decoherence rates in chaotic and regular bath dynamics.

PubMed

Sanz, A S; Elran, Y; Brumer, P

2012-03-01

The effect of chaotic bath dynamics on the decoherence of a quantum system is examined for the vibrational degrees of freedom of a diatomic molecule in a realistic, constant temperature collisional bath. As an example, the specific case of I(2) in liquid xenon is examined as a function of temperature, and the results compared with an integrable xenon bath. A crossover in behavior is found: The integrable bath induces more decoherence at low bath temperatures than does the chaotic bath, whereas the opposite is the case at the higher bath temperatures. These results, verifying a conjecture due to Wilkie, shed light on the differing views of the effect of chaotic dynamics on system decoherence.

Uncovering many-body correlations in nanoscale nuclear spin baths by central spin decoherence

PubMed Central

Ma, Wen-Long; Wolfowicz, Gary; Zhao, Nan; Li, Shu-Shen; Morton, John J.L.; Liu, Ren-Bao

2014-01-01

Central spin decoherence caused by nuclear spin baths is often a critical issue in various quantum computing schemes, and it has also been used for sensing single-nuclear spins. Recent theoretical studies suggest that central spin decoherence can act as a probe of many-body physics in spin baths; however, identification and detection of many-body correlations of nuclear spins in nanoscale systems are highly challenging. Here, taking a phosphorus donor electron spin in a 29Si nuclear spin bath as our model system, we discover both theoretically and experimentally that many-body correlations in nanoscale nuclear spin baths produce identifiable signatures in decoherence of the central spin under multiple-pulse dynamical decoupling control. We demonstrate that under control by an odd or even number of pulses, the central spin decoherence is principally caused by second- or fourth-order nuclear spin correlations, respectively. This study marks an important step toward studying many-body physics using spin qubits. PMID:25205440

Stochastic modification of the Schrödinger-Newton equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bera, Sayantani; Mohan, Ravi; Singh, Tejinder P.

2015-07-01

The Schrödinger-Newton (SN) equation describes the effect of self-gravity on the evolution of a quantum system, and it has been proposed that gravitationally induced decoherence drives the system to one of the stationary solutions of the SN equation. However, the equation itself lacks a decoherence mechanism, because it does not possess any stochastic feature. In the present work we derive a stochastic modification of the Schrödinger-Newton equation, starting from the Einstein-Langevin equation in the theory of stochastic semiclassical gravity. We specialize this equation to the case of a single massive point particle, and by using Karolyhazy's phase variance method, we derive the Diósi-Penrose criterion for the decoherence time. We obtain a (nonlinear) master equation corresponding to this stochastic SN equation. This equation is, however, linear at the level of the approximation we use to prove decoherence; hence, the no-signaling requirement is met. Lastly, we use physical arguments to obtain expressions for the decoherence length of extended objects.

Origin of the decoherence of the extended electron spin state in Ti-doped β-Ga2O3.

PubMed

Mentink-Vigier, F; Binet, L; Gourier, D; Vezin, H

2013-08-07

The mechanism of decoherence of the electron spin of Ti(3+) in β-Ga2O3 was investigated by pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance. At 4.2 K, both instantaneous and spectral diffusion contribute to the decoherence. For electron spin concentrations ≈10(25) m(-3) in the studied samples, calculations indicate that electron-electron couplings and electron couplings with (69)Ga and (71)Ga nuclei yield similar contributions to the spectral diffusion, but that electron-nuclei interactions could become the dominant cause of spectral diffusion for only slightly lower spin concentrations. Above 20 K, an additional contribution to the decoherence as well as to the spin-lattice relaxation arises from a two-optical-phonon Raman process, which becomes the leading decoherence mechanism for T > 39 K. Rabi oscillations with a damping time of about 79 ns at 4.2 K could also be observed. The damping of the Rabi oscillations, independent of the oscillation frequency, is suspected to arise from electron-nuclei interactions.

Quantum transition and decoherence of levitating polaron on helium film thickness under an electromagnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kenfack, S. C.; Fotue, A. J.; Fobasso, M. F. C.; Djomou, J.-R. D.; Tiotsop, M.; Ngouana, K. S. L.; Fai, L. C.

2017-12-01

We have studied the transition probability and decoherence time of levitating polaron in helium film thickness. By using a variational method of Pekar type, the ground and the first excited states of polaron are calculated above the liquid-helium film placed on the polar substrate. It is shown that the polaron transits from the ground to the excited state in the presence of an external electromagnetic field in the plane. We have seen that, in the helium film, the effects of the magnetic and electric fields on the polaron are opposite. It is also shown that the energy, transition probability and decoherence time of the polaron depend sensitively on the helium film thickness. We found that decoherence time decreases as a function of increasing electron-phonon coupling strength and the helium film thickness. It is seen that the film thickness can be considered as a new confinement in our system and can be adjusted in order to reduce decoherence.

Decoherence in adiabatic quantum computation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albash, Tameem; Lidar, Daniel A.

2015-06-01

Recent experiments with increasingly larger numbers of qubits have sparked renewed interest in adiabatic quantum computation, and in particular quantum annealing. A central question that is repeatedly asked is whether quantum features of the evolution can survive over the long time scales used for quantum annealing relative to standard measures of the decoherence time. We reconsider the role of decoherence in adiabatic quantum computation and quantum annealing using the adiabatic quantum master-equation formalism. We restrict ourselves to the weak-coupling and singular-coupling limits, which correspond to decoherence in the energy eigenbasis and in the computational basis, respectively. We demonstrate that decoherence in the instantaneous energy eigenbasis does not necessarily detrimentally affect adiabatic quantum computation, and in particular that a short single-qubit T2 time need not imply adverse consequences for the success of the quantum adiabatic algorithm. We further demonstrate that boundary cancellation methods, designed to improve the fidelity of adiabatic quantum computing in the closed-system setting, remain beneficial in the open-system setting. To address the high computational cost of master-equation simulations, we also demonstrate that a quantum Monte Carlo algorithm that explicitly accounts for a thermal bosonic bath can be used to interpolate between classical and quantum annealing. Our study highlights and clarifies the significantly different role played by decoherence in the adiabatic and circuit models of quantum computing.

Random unitary evolution model of quantum Darwinism with pure decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balanesković, Nenad

2015-10-01

We study the behavior of Quantum Darwinism [W.H. Zurek, Nat. Phys. 5, 181 (2009)] within the iterative, random unitary operations qubit-model of pure decoherence [J. Novotný, G. Alber, I. Jex, New J. Phys. 13, 053052 (2011)]. We conclude that Quantum Darwinism, which describes the quantum mechanical evolution of an open system S from the point of view of its environment E, is not a generic phenomenon, but depends on the specific form of input states and on the type of S-E-interactions. Furthermore, we show that within the random unitary model the concept of Quantum Darwinism enables one to explicitly construct and specify artificial input states of environment E that allow to store information about an open system S of interest with maximal efficiency.

Experimental generation of an eight-photon Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state.

PubMed

Huang, Yun-Feng; Liu, Bi-Heng; Peng, Liang; Li, Yu-Hu; Li, Li; Li, Chuan-Feng; Guo, Guang-Can

2011-11-22

Multi-partite entangled states are important for developing studies of quantum networking and quantum computation. To date, the largest number of particles that have been successfully manipulated is 14 trapped ions. Yet in quantum information science, photons have particular advantages over other systems. In particular, they are more easily transportable qubits and are more robust against decoherence. Thus far, the largest number of photons to have been successfully manipulated in an experiment is six. Here we demonstrate, for the first time, an eight-photon Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state with a measured fidelity of 0.59±0.02, which proved the presence of genuine eight-partite entanglement. This is achieved by improving the photon detection efficiency to 25% with a 300-mW pump laser. With this state, we also demonstrate an eight-party quantum communication complexity scenario. This eight-photon entangled-state source may be useful in one-way quantum computation, quantum networks and other quantum information processing tasks.

Counterfactual Assessment of Decoherence in Quantum Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russo, Onofrio; Jiang, Liang

2013-03-01

Quantum Zeno effect occurs when the system is observed for unusually short observation times, t, where the probability of the transition between different quantum states is known to be proportional to t2. This results in a decrease in the probability of transitions between states and the consequent decrease in decoherence. We consider the conditions in which these observations are made counterfactual to assess whether this results in a significant change in decoherence.

Sharpening the second law of thermodynamics with the quantum Bayes theorem.

PubMed

Gharibyan, Hrant; Tegmark, Max

2014-09-01

We prove a generalization of the classic Groenewold-Lindblad entropy inequality, combining decoherence and the quantum Bayes theorem into a simple unified picture where decoherence increases entropy while observation decreases it. This provides a rigorous quantum-mechanical version of the second law of thermodynamics, governing how the entropy of a system (the entropy of its density matrix, partial-traced over the environment and conditioned on what is known) evolves under general decoherence and observation. The powerful tool of spectral majorization enables both simple alternative proofs of the classic Lindblad and Holevo inequalities without using strong subadditivity, and also novel inequalities for decoherence and observation that hold not only for von Neumann entropy, but also for arbitrary concave entropies.

Mechanisms of relaxation and spin decoherence in nanomagnets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Tol, Johan

Relaxation in spin systems is of great interest with respect to various possible applications like quantum information processing and storage, spintronics, and dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP). The implementation of high frequencies and fields is crucial in the study of systems with large zero-field splitting or large interactions, as for example molecular magnets and low dimensional magnetic materials. Here we will focus on the implementation of pulsed Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (ERP) at multiple frequencies of 10, 95, 120, 240, and 336 GHz, and the relaxation and decoherence processes as a function of magnetic field and temperature. Firstly, at higher frequencies the direct single-phonon spin-lattice relaxation (SLR) is considerably enhanced, and will more often than not be the dominant relaxation mechanism at low temperatures, and can be much faster than at lower fields and frequencies. In principle the measurement of the SLR rates as a function of the frequency provides a means to map the phonon density of states. Secondly, the high electron spin polarization at high fields has a strong influence on the spin fluctuations in relatively concentrated spin systems, and the contribution of the electron-electron dipolar interactions to the coherence rate can be partially quenched at low temperatures. This not only allows the study of relatively concentrated spin systems by pulsed EPR (as for example magnetic nanoparticles and molecular magnets), it enables the separation of the contribution of the fluctuations of the electron spin system from other decoherence mechanisms. Besides choice of temperature and field, several strategies in sample design, pulse sequences, or clock transitions can be employed to extend the coherence time in nanomagnets. A review will be given of the decoherence mechanisms with an attempt at a quantitative comparison of experimental rates with theory.

Enhancing coherence in molecular spin qubits via atomic clock transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiddiq, Muhandis; Komijani, Dorsa; Duan, Yan; Gaita-Ariño, Alejandro; Coronado, Eugenio; Hill, Stephen

2016-03-01

Quantum computing is an emerging area within the information sciences revolving around the concept of quantum bits (qubits). A major obstacle is the extreme fragility of these qubits due to interactions with their environment that destroy their quantumness. This phenomenon, known as decoherence, is of fundamental interest. There are many competing candidates for qubits, including superconducting circuits, quantum optical cavities, ultracold atoms and spin qubits, and each has its strengths and weaknesses. When dealing with spin qubits, the strongest source of decoherence is the magnetic dipolar interaction. To minimize it, spins are typically diluted in a diamagnetic matrix. For example, this dilution can be taken to the extreme of a single phosphorus atom in silicon, whereas in molecular matrices a typical ratio is one magnetic molecule per 10,000 matrix molecules. However, there is a fundamental contradiction between reducing decoherence by dilution and allowing quantum operations via the interaction between spin qubits. To resolve this contradiction, the design and engineering of quantum hardware can benefit from a ‘bottom-up’ approach whereby the electronic structure of magnetic molecules is chemically tailored to give the desired physical behaviour. Here we present a way of enhancing coherence in solid-state molecular spin qubits without resorting to extreme dilution. It is based on the design of molecular structures with crystal field ground states possessing large tunnelling gaps that give rise to optimal operating points, or atomic clock transitions, at which the quantum spin dynamics become protected against dipolar decoherence. This approach is illustrated with a holmium molecular nanomagnet in which long coherence times (up to 8.4 microseconds at 5 kelvin) are obtained at unusually high concentrations. This finding opens new avenues for quantum computing based on molecular spin qubits.

Decoherence in quantum systems in a static gravitational field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shariati, Ahmad; Khorrami, Mohammad; Loran, Farhang

2016-09-01

A small quantum system is studied which is a superposition of states localized in different positions in a static gravitational field. The time evolution of the correlation between different positions is investigated, and it is seen that there are two time scales for such an evolution (decoherence). Both time scales are inversely proportional to the red shift difference between the two points. These time scales correspond to decoherences which are linear and quadratic, respectively, in time.

How decoherence affects the probability of slow-roll eternal inflation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boddy, Kimberly K.; Carroll, Sean M.; Pollack, Jason

2017-07-01

Slow-roll inflation can become eternal if the quantum variance of the inflaton field around its slowly rolling classical trajectory is converted into a distribution of classical spacetimes inflating at different rates, and if the variance is large enough compared to the rate of classical rolling that the probability of an increased rate of expansion is sufficiently high. Both of these criteria depend sensitively on whether and how perturbation modes of the inflaton interact and decohere. Decoherence is inevitable as a result of gravitationally sourced interactions whose strength are proportional to the slow-roll parameters. However, the weakness of these interactions means that decoherence is typically delayed until several Hubble times after modes grow beyond the Hubble scale. We present perturbative evidence that decoherence of long-wavelength inflaton modes indeed leads to an ensemble of classical spacetimes with differing cosmological evolutions. We introduce the notion of per-branch observables—expectation values with respect to the different decohered branches of the wave function—and show that the evolution of modes on individual branches varies from branch to branch. Thus, single-field slow-roll inflation fulfills the quantum-mechanical criteria required for the validity of the standard picture of eternal inflation. For a given potential, the delayed decoherence can lead to slight quantitative adjustments to the regime in which the inflaton undergoes eternal inflation.

Principle of least decoherence for Newtonian semiclassical gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tilloy, Antoine; Diósi, Lajos

2017-11-01

Recent works have proved that semiclassical theories of gravity needed not be fundamentally inconsistent, at least in the Newtonian regime. Using the machinery of continuous measurement theory and feedback, it was shown that one could construct well-behaved models of hybrid quantum-classical dynamics at the price of an imposed (nonunique) decoherence structure. We introduce a principle of least decoherence (PLD) which allows us to naturally single out a unique model from all the available options; up to some unspecified short distance regularization scale. Interestingly, the resulting model is found to coincide with the old—erstwhile only heuristically motivated—proposal of Penrose and one of us for gravity-related spontaneous decoherence and collapse. Finally, this paper suggests that it is in the submillimeter behavior of gravity that new phenomena might be found.

Suppression and enhancement of decoherence in an atomic Josephson junction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Japha, Yonathan; Zhou, Shuyu; Keil, Mark; Folman, Ron; Henkel, Carsten; Vardi, Amichay

2016-05-01

We investigate the role of interatomic interactions when a Bose gas, in a double-well potential with a finite tunneling probability (a ‘Bose-Josephson junction’), is exposed to external noise. We examine the rate of decoherence of a system initially in its ground state with equal probability amplitudes in both sites. The noise may induce two kinds of effects: firstly, random shifts in the relative phase or number difference between the two wells and secondly, loss of atoms from the trap. The effects of induced phase fluctuations are mitigated by atom-atom interactions and tunneling, such that the dephasing rate may be suppressed by half its single-atom value. Random fluctuations may also be induced in the population difference between the wells, in which case atom-atom interactions considerably enhance the decoherence rate. A similar scenario is predicted for the case of atom loss, even if the loss rates from the two sites are equal. We find that if the initial state is number-squeezed due to interactions, then the loss process induces population fluctuations that reduce the coherence across the junction. We examine the parameters relevant for these effects in a typical atom chip device, using a simple model of the trapping potential, experimental data, and the theory of magnetic field fluctuations near metallic conductors. These results provide a framework for mapping the dynamical range of barriers engineered for specific applications and set the stage for more complex atom circuits (‘atomtronics’).

Partial coherence with application to the monotonicity problem of coherence involving skew information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Shunlong; Sun, Yuan

2017-08-01

Quantifications of coherence are intensively studied in the context of completely decoherent operations (i.e., von Neuamnn measurements, or equivalently, orthonormal bases) in recent years. Here we investigate partial coherence (i.e., coherence in the context of partially decoherent operations such as Lüders measurements). A bona fide measure of partial coherence is introduced. As an application, we address the monotonicity problem of K -coherence (a quantifier for coherence in terms of Wigner-Yanase skew information) [Girolami, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 170401 (2014), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.170401], which is introduced to realize a measure of coherence as axiomatized by Baumgratz, Cramer, and Plenio [Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 140401 (2014), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.140401]. Since K -coherence fails to meet the necessary requirement of monotonicity under incoherent operations, it is desirable to remedy this monotonicity problem. We show that if we modify the original measure by taking skew information with respect to the spectral decomposition of an observable, rather than the observable itself, as a measure of coherence, then the problem disappears, and the resultant coherence measure satisfies the monotonicity. Some concrete examples are discussed and related open issues are indicated.

Emergent dark energy via decoherence in quantum interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altamirano, Natacha; Corona-Ugalde, Paulina; Khosla, Kiran E.; Milburn, Gerard J.; Mann, Robert B.

2017-06-01

In this work we consider a recent proposal that gravitational interactions are mediated via classical information and apply it to a relativistic context. We study a toy model of a quantized Friedman-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe with the assumption that any test particles must feel a classical metric. We show that such a model results in decoherence in the FRW state that manifests itself as a dark energy fluid that fills the spacetime. Analysis of the resulting fluid, shows the equation of state asymptotically oscillates around the value w  =  -1/3, regardless of the spatial curvature, which provides the bound between accelerating and decelerating expanding FRW cosmologies. Motivated with quantum-classical interactions this model is yet another example of theories with violation of energy-momentum conservation whose signature could have significant consequences for the observable universe.

Entanglement dynamics of coupled qubits and a semi-decoherence free subspace

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campagnano, Gabriele; Hamma, Alioscia; Weiss, Ulrich

2010-01-01

We study the entanglement dynamics and relaxation properties of a system of two interacting qubits in the cases of (I) two independent bosonic baths and (II) one common bath. We find that in the case (II) the existence of a decoherence-free subspace (DFS) makes entanglement dynamics very rich. We show that when the system is initially in a state with a component in the DFS the relaxation time is surprisingly long, showing the existence of semi-decoherence free subspaces.

Probing possible decoherence effects in atmospheric neutrino oscillations.

PubMed

Lisi, E; Marrone, A; Montanino, D

2000-08-07

It is shown that the results of the Super-Kamiokande atmospheric neutrino experiment, interpreted in terms of nu(mu)<-->nu(tau) flavor transitions, can probe possible decoherence effects induced by new physics (e.g., by quantum gravity) with high sensitivity, supplementing current laboratory tests based on kaon oscillations and on neutron interferometry. By varying the (unknown) energy dependence of such effects, one can either obtain strong limits on their amplitude or use them to find an unconventional solution to the atmospheric nu anomaly based solely on decoherence.

Experimental Evidence for Quantum Interference and Vibrationally Induced Decoherence in Single-Molecule Junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ballmann, Stefan; Härtle, Rainer; Coto, Pedro B.; Elbing, Mark; Mayor, Marcel; Bryce, Martin R.; Thoss, Michael; Weber, Heiko B.

2012-08-01

We analyze quantum interference and decoherence effects in single-molecule junctions both experimentally and theoretically by means of the mechanically controlled break junction technique and density-functional theory. We consider the case where interference is provided by overlapping quasidegenerate states. Decoherence mechanisms arising from electronic-vibrational coupling strongly affect the electrical current flowing through a single-molecule contact and can be controlled by temperature variation. Our findings underline the universal relevance of vibrations for understanding charge transport through molecular junctions.

Experimental evidence for quantum interference and vibrationally induced decoherence in single-molecule junctions.

PubMed

Ballmann, Stefan; Härtle, Rainer; Coto, Pedro B; Elbing, Mark; Mayor, Marcel; Bryce, Martin R; Thoss, Michael; Weber, Heiko B

2012-08-03

We analyze quantum interference and decoherence effects in single-molecule junctions both experimentally and theoretically by means of the mechanically controlled break junction technique and density-functional theory. We consider the case where interference is provided by overlapping quasidegenerate states. Decoherence mechanisms arising from electronic-vibrational coupling strongly affect the electrical current flowing through a single-molecule contact and can be controlled by temperature variation. Our findings underline the universal relevance of vibrations for understanding charge transport through molecular junctions.

Quantum optical tests of complementarity: Quantum eraser and the decoherence time of a local measurement process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abranyos, Yonatan

1999-10-01

Quantum optical tests of the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics, in particular, complementarity, entanglement and non-locality, are the central themes of this dissertation. A which-path experiment is implemented based on a recent experiment by Eichmann et al. [1] involving two four-level atoms. In the version considered here a continuous Broad Band Excitation field drives the two trapped atoms and, depending on the type of scattering, information about which atom scattered the light is stored in the internal degrees of the atoms. Entanglement of the atoms-photon system is intimately connected to the availability of ``which way'' information. The quantum eraser disentangles the atoms-photon system and consequently ``which way'' information is lost leading to interference. Two different experimental schemes based on the Eichmann et al. experiment are proposed for the implementation of the quantum eraser. The quantum eraser schemes erase the ``which way'' information and interference is observed in the second order correlation function. With a slight modification of the experiment, a scheme that allows to verify recently derived inequalities by Englert [2] in connection with distinguishability and visibility in a two-way interferometer is proposed. These inequalities, in some sense, can be regarded as quantifying the notion of wave-particle duality. The visibility of interference depends on the detected polarization direction of the scattered light, and a reading out of the internal atomic states of one of the two atoms provides for partial ``which way'' information or distinguishability of the two different paths. Finally, the quantum eraser is used to measure the decoherence time of a local measurement process. The experiment proposed is similar to the quantum eraser setup and contains the complete measurement process of system-meter-environment interaction. The decoherence time is quantitatively expressed in the amount of reduction of the visibility in the second order correlation function. In addition, it explores how we can cast the question of quantum coherence of mesoscopic or macroscopic systems with a quantum eraser or in general interference experiments.

Self-assembling hybrid diamond-biological quantum devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albrecht, A.; Koplovitz, G.; Retzker, A.; Jelezko, F.; Yochelis, S.; Porath, D.; Nevo, Y.; Shoseyov, O.; Paltiel, Y.; Plenio, M. B.

2014-09-01

The realization of scalable arrangements of nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers in diamond remains a key challenge on the way towards efficient quantum information processing, quantum simulation and quantum sensing applications. Although technologies based on implanting NV-centers in bulk diamond crystals or hybrid device approaches have been developed, they are limited by the achievable spatial resolution and by the intricate technological complexities involved in achieving scalability. We propose and demonstrate a novel approach for creating an arrangement of NV-centers, based on the self-assembling capabilities of biological systems and their beneficial nanometer spatial resolution. Here, a self-assembled protein structure serves as a structural scaffold for surface functionalized nanodiamonds, in this way allowing for the controlled creation of NV-structures on the nanoscale and providing a new avenue towards bridging the bio-nano interface. One-, two- as well as three-dimensional structures are within the scope of biological structural assembling techniques. We realized experimentally the formation of regular structures by interconnecting nanodiamonds using biological protein scaffolds. Based on the achievable NV-center distances of 11 nm, we evaluate the expected dipolar coupling interaction with neighboring NV-centers as well as the expected decoherence time. Moreover, by exploiting these couplings, we provide a detailed theoretical analysis on the viability of multiqubit quantum operations, suggest the possibility of individual addressing based on the random distribution of the NV intrinsic symmetry axes and address the challenges posed by decoherence and imperfect couplings. We then demonstrate in the last part that our scheme allows for the high-fidelity creation of entanglement, cluster states and quantum simulation applications.

Coherence and decoherence in the brain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hepp, K.

2012-09-01

This review provides many entry points to controversies in neuroscience, where input from mathematical physics could be fruitful, especially about coherence and decoherence in the brain, both on the level of classical and quantum mechanics.

Decoherence and dissipation for a quantum system coupled to a local environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gallis, Michael R.

1994-01-01

Decoherence and dissipation in quantum systems has been studied extensively in the context of Quantum Brownian Motion. Effective decoherence in coarse grained quantum systems has been a central issue in recent efforts by Zurek and by Hartle and Gell-Mann to address the Quantum Measurement Problem. Although these models can yield very general classical phenomenology, they are incapable of reproducing relevant characteristics expected of a local environment on a quantum system, such as the characteristic dependence of decoherence on environment spatial correlations. I discuss the characteristics of Quantum Brownian Motion in a local environment by examining aspects of first principle calculations and by the construction of phenomenological models. Effective quantum Langevin equations and master equations are presented in a variety of representations. Comparisons are made with standard results such as the Caldeira-Leggett master equation.

Implementing the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm with macroscopic ensembles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Semenenko, Henry; Byrnes, Tim

2016-05-01

Quantum computing implementations under consideration today typically deal with systems with microscopic degrees of freedom such as photons, ions, cold atoms, and superconducting circuits. The quantum information is stored typically in low-dimensional Hilbert spaces such as qubits, as quantum effects are strongest in such systems. It has, however, been demonstrated that quantum effects can be observed in mesoscopic and macroscopic systems, such as nanomechanical systems and gas ensembles. While few-qubit quantum information demonstrations have been performed with such macroscopic systems, a quantum algorithm showing exponential speedup over classical algorithms is yet to be shown. Here, we show that the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm can be implemented with macroscopic ensembles. The encoding that we use avoids the detrimental effects of decoherence that normally plagues macroscopic implementations. We discuss two mapping procedures which can be chosen depending upon the constraints of the oracle and the experiment. Both methods have an exponential speedup over the classical case, and only require control of the ensembles at the level of the total spin of the ensembles. It is shown that both approaches reproduce the qubit Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm, and are robust under decoherence.

Supersensitive ancilla-based adaptive quantum phase estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larson, Walker; Saleh, Bahaa E. A.

2017-10-01

The supersensitivity attained in quantum phase estimation is known to be compromised in the presence of decoherence. This is particularly patent at blind spots—phase values at which sensitivity is totally lost. One remedy is to use a precisely known reference phase to shift the operation point to a less vulnerable phase value. Since this is not always feasible, we present here an alternative approach based on combining the probe with an ancillary degree of freedom containing adjustable parameters to create an entangled quantum state of higher dimension. We validate this concept by simulating a configuration of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with a two-photon probe and a polarization ancilla of adjustable parameters, entangled at a polarizing beam splitter. At the interferometer output, the photons are measured after an adjustable unitary transformation in the polarization subspace. Through calculation of the Fisher information and simulation of an estimation procedure, we show that optimizing the adjustable polarization parameters using an adaptive measurement process provides globally supersensitive unbiased phase estimates for a range of decoherence levels, without prior information or a reference phase.

Ultrafast creation of large Schrödinger cat states of an atom.

PubMed

Johnson, K G; Wong-Campos, J D; Neyenhuis, B; Mizrahi, J; Monroe, C

2017-09-26

Mesoscopic quantum superpositions, or Schrödinger cat states, are widely studied for fundamental investigations of quantum measurement and decoherence as well as applications in sensing and quantum information science. The generation and maintenance of such states relies upon a balance between efficient external coherent control of the system and sufficient isolation from the environment. Here we create a variety of cat states of a single trapped atom's motion in a harmonic oscillator using ultrafast laser pulses. These pulses produce high fidelity impulsive forces that separate the atom into widely separated positions, without restrictions that typically limit the speed of the interaction or the size and complexity of the resulting motional superposition. This allows us to quickly generate and measure cat states larger than previously achieved in a harmonic oscillator, and create complex multi-component superposition states in atoms.Generation of mesoscopic quantum superpositions requires both reliable coherent control and isolation from the environment. Here, the authors succeed in creating a variety of cat states of a single trapped atom, mapping spin superpositions into spatial superpositions using ultrafast laser pulses.

An efficient solution to the decoherence enhanced trivial crossing problem in surface hopping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Xin; Qiu, Jing; Wang, Linjun

2018-03-01

We provide an in-depth investigation of the time interval convergence when both trivial crossing and decoherence corrections are applied to Tully's fewest switches surface hopping (FSSH) algorithm. Using one force-based and one energy-based decoherence strategies as examples, we show decoherence corrections intrinsically enhance the trivial crossing problem. We propose a restricted decoherence (RD) strategy and incorporate it into the self-consistent (SC) fewest switches surface hopping algorithm [L. Wang and O. V. Prezhdo, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 5, 713 (2014)]. The resulting SC-FSSH-RD approach is applied to general Hamiltonians with different electronic couplings and electron-phonon couplings to mimic charge transport in tens to hundreds of molecules. In all cases, SC-FSSH-RD allows us to use a large time interval of 0.1 fs for convergence and the simulation time is reduced by over one order of magnitude. Both the band and hopping mechanisms of charge transport have been captured perfectly. SC-FSSH-RD makes surface hops in the adiabatic representation and can be implemented in both diabatic and locally diabatic representations for wave function propagation. SC-FSSH-RD can potentially describe general nonadiabatic dynamics of electrons and excitons in organics and other materials.

Unveiling the decoherence effect of noise on the entropic uncertainty relation and its control by partially collapsed operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Min-Nan; Sun, Wen-Yang; Huang, Ai-Jun; Ming, Fei; Wang, Dong; Ye, Liu

2018-01-01

In this work, we investigate the dynamics of quantum-memory-assisted entropic uncertainty relations under open systems, and how to steer the uncertainty under different types of decoherence. Specifically, we develop the dynamical behaviors of the uncertainty of interest under two typical categories of noise; bit flipping and depolarizing channels. It has been shown that the measurement uncertainty firstly increases and then decreases with the growth of the decoherence strength in bit flipping channels. In contrast, the uncertainty monotonically increases with the increase of the decoherence strength in depolarizing channels. Notably, and to a large degree, it is shown that the uncertainty depends on both the systematic quantum correlation and the minimal conditional entropy of the observed subsystem. Moreover, we present a possible physical interpretation for these distinctive behaviors of the uncertainty within such scenarios. Furthermore, we propose a simple and effective strategy to reduce the entropic uncertainty by means of a partially collapsed operation—quantum weak measurement. Therefore, our investigations might offer an insight into the dynamics of the measurment uncertainty under decoherence, and be of importance to quantum precision measurement in open systems.

The Lee-Friedrichs Model: Continuous Limit and Decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laura, Roberto; Castagnino, Mario

2007-09-01

We analyze the thermodynamic limit of the Hamiltonian, states and observables, of a system containing an oscillator interacting with a thermal bath We use the results to a compare environment and self induced decoherence.

Non-extensive entropy and properties of polaron in RbCl delta quantum dot under an applied electric field and Coulombic impurity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiotsop, M.; Fotue, A. J.; Fotsin, H. B.; Fai, L. C.

2017-08-01

Bound polaron in RbCl delta quantum dot under electric field and Coulombic impurity were considered. The ground and first excited state energy were derived by employing Pekar variational and unitary transformation methods. Applying Fermi golden rule, the expression of temperature and polaron lifetime were derived. The decoherence was studied trough the Tsallis entropy. Results shows that decreasing (or increasing) the lifetime increases (or decreases) the temperature and delta parameter (electric field strength and hydrogenic impurity). This suggests that to accelerate quantum transition in nanostructure, temperature and delta have to be enhanced. The improvement of electric field and coulomb parameter, increases the lifetime of the delta quantum dot qubit. Energy spectrum of polaron increases with increase in temperature, electric field strength, Coulomb parameter, delta parameter, and polaronic radius. The control of the delta quantum dot energies can be done via the electric field, coulomb impurity, and delta parameter. Results also show that the non-extensive entropy is an oscillatory function of time. With the enhancement of delta parameter, non-extensive parameter, Coulombic parameter, and electric field strength, the entropy has a sinusoidal increase behavior with time. With the study of decoherence through the Tsallis entropy, it may be advised that to have a quantum system with efficient transmission of information, the non-extensive and delta parameters need to be significant. The study of the probability density showed an increase from the boundary to the center of the dot where it has its maximum value and oscillates with period T0 = ℏ / ΔE with the tunneling of the delta parameter, electric field strength, and Coulombic parameter. The results may be very helpful in the transmission of information in nanostructures and control of decoherence

Resonant Perturbation Theory of Decoherence and Relaxation of Quantum Bits

DOE PAGES

Merkli, M.; Berman, G. P.; Sigal, I. M.

2010-01-01

We describe our recenmore » t results on the resonant perturbation theory of decoherence and relaxation for quantum systems with many qubits. The approach represents a rigorous analysis of the phenomenon of decoherence and relaxation for general N -level systems coupled to reservoirs of bosonic fields. We derive a representation of the reduced dynamics valid for all times t ≥ 0 and for small but fixed interaction strength. Our approach does not involve master equation approximations and applies to a wide variety of systems which are not explicitly solvable.« less

Non-equilibrium quantum phase transition via entanglement decoherence dynamics.

PubMed

Lin, Yu-Chen; Yang, Pei-Yun; Zhang, Wei-Min

2016-10-07

We investigate the decoherence dynamics of continuous variable entanglement as the system-environment coupling strength varies from the weak-coupling to the strong-coupling regimes. Due to the existence of localized modes in the strong-coupling regime, the system cannot approach equilibrium with its environment, which induces a nonequilibrium quantum phase transition. We analytically solve the entanglement decoherence dynamics for an arbitrary spectral density. The nonequilibrium quantum phase transition is demonstrated as the system-environment coupling strength varies for all the Ohmic-type spectral densities. The 3-D entanglement quantum phase diagram is obtained.

Decoherence and Collisional Frequency Shifts of Trapped Bosons and Fermions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gibble, Kurt; LNE-SYRTE, Observatoire de Paris, 75014 Paris

2009-09-11

We perform exact calculations of collisional frequency shifts for several fermions or bosons using a singlet and triplet basis for pairs of particles. The 'factor of 2 controversy' for bosons becomes clear - the factor is always 2. Decoherence is described by singlet states and they are unaffected by spatially uniform clock fields. Spatial variations are critical, especially for fermions which were previously thought to be immune to collision shifts. The spatial variations lead to decoherence and a novel frequency shift that is not proportional to the partial density of internal states.

Room-temperature storage of quantum entanglement using decoherence-free subspace in a solid-state spin system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, F.; Huang, Y.-Y.; Zhang, Z.-Y.; Zu, C.; Hou, P.-Y.; Yuan, X.-X.; Wang, W.-B.; Zhang, W.-G.; He, L.; Chang, X.-Y.; Duan, L.-M.

2017-10-01

We experimentally demonstrate room-temperature storage of quantum entanglement using two nuclear spins weakly coupled to the electronic spin carried by a single nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond. We realize universal quantum gate control over the three-qubit spin system and produce entangled states in the decoherence-free subspace of the two nuclear spins. By injecting arbitrary collective noise, we demonstrate that the decoherence-free entangled state has coherence time longer than that of other entangled states by an order of magnitude in our experiment.

Quantum Games under Decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Zhiming; Qiu, Daowen

2016-02-01

Quantum systems are easily influenced by ambient environments. Decoherence is generated by system interaction with external environment. In this paper, we analyse the effects of decoherence on quantum games with Eisert-Wilkens-Lewenstein (EWL) (Eisert et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 83(15), 3077 1999) and Marinatto-Weber (MW) (Marinatto and Weber, Phys. Lett. A 272, 291 2000) schemes. Firstly, referring to the analytical approach that was introduced by Eisert et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. 83(15), 3077 1999), we analyse the effects of decoherence on quantum Chicken game by considering different traditional noisy channels. We investigate the Nash equilibria and changes of payoff in specific two-parameter strategy set for maximally entangled initial states. We find that the Nash equilibria are different in different noisy channels. Since Unruh effect produces a decoherence-like effect and can be perceived as a quantum noise channel (Omkar et al., arXiv: 1408.1477v1), with the same two parameter strategy set, we investigate the influences of decoherence generated by the Unruh effect on three-player quantum Prisoners' Dilemma, the non-zero sum symmetric multiplayer quantum game both for unentangled and entangled initial states. We discuss the effect of the acceleration of noninertial frames on the the game's properties such as payoffs, symmetry, Nash equilibrium, Pareto optimal, dominant strategy, etc. Finally, we study the decoherent influences of correlated noise and Unruh effect on quantum Stackelberg duopoly for entangled and unentangled initial states with the depolarizing channel. Our investigations show that under the influence of correlated depolarizing channel and acceleration in noninertial frame, some critical points exist for an unentangled initial state at which firms get equal payoffs and the game becomes a follower advantage game. It is shown that the game is always a leader advantage game for a maximally entangled initial state and there appear some points at which the payoffs become zero.

Quantum decoherence and interlevel relations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crull, Elise M.

Quantum decoherence is a dynamical process whereby a system's phase relations become delocalized due to interaction and subsequent entanglement with its environment. This delocalization, or decoherence, forces the quantum system into a state that is apparently classical (or apparently an eigenstate) by prodigiously suppressing features that typically give rise to so-called quantum behavior. Thus it has been frequently proposed by physicists and philosophers alike that decoherence explains the dynamical transition from quantum behavior to classical behavior. Statements like this assume the existence of distinct realms, however, and the present thesis is an exploration of the metaphysical consequences of quantum decoherence motivated by the question of the quantum-to-classical transition and interlevel relations: if there are in-principle "classical" and "quantum" levels, what are the relations between them? And if there are no such levels, what follows? Importantly, the following philosophical investigations are carried out by intentionally leaving aside the measurement problem and concerns about particular interpretations of quantum mechanics. Good philosophical work, it is argued, can be done without adopting a specific interpretational framework and without recourse to the measurement problem. After introducing the physics of decoherence and exploring the four canonical models applied to system-environment interactions, it is argued that, ontologically speaking, there exist no levels. This claim---called the "nontological thesis"---exposes as ill-posed questions regarding the transition from the quantum regime to the classical regime and reveals the inappropriateness of interlevel relations (like reduction, supervenience and emergence) operating within metaphysical frameworks. The nontological thesis has further important consequences regarding intralevel relations: not only are there no meaningful ways to carve the world into levels, but there are no meaningful ways to carve the world into parts and wholes either. These conclusions, supported by quantum decoherence and the empirical success of its models, drastically alter the philosophical terrain---not just in physics or in the philosophy of physics, but in traditional metaphysics as well.

Phase-insensitive storage of coherences by reversible mapping onto long-lived populations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mieth, Simon; Genov, Genko T.; Yatsenko, Leonid P.; Vitanov, Nikolay V.; Halfmann, Thomas

2016-01-01

We theoretically develop and experimentally demonstrate a coherence population mapping (CPM) protocol to store atomic coherences in long-lived populations, enabling storage times far beyond the typically very short decoherence times of quantum systems. The amplitude and phase of an atomic coherence is written onto the populations of a three-state system by specifically designed sequences of radiation pulses from two coupling fields. As an important feature, the CPM sequences enable a retrieval efficiency, which is insensitive to the phase of the initial coherence. The information is preserved in every individual atom of the medium, enabling applications in purely homogeneously or inhomogeneously broadened ensembles even when stochastic phase jumps are the main source of decoherence. We experimentally confirm the theoretical predictions by applying CPM for storage of atomic coherences in a doped solid, reaching storage times in the regime of 1 min.

Effects of entanglement in an ideal optical amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franson, J. D.; Brewster, R. A.

2018-04-01

In an ideal linear amplifier, the output signal is linearly related to the input signal with an additive noise that is independent of the input. The decoherence of a quantum-mechanical state as a result of optical amplification is usually assumed to be due to the addition of quantum noise. Here we show that entanglement between the input signal and the amplifying medium can produce an exponentially-large amount of decoherence in an ideal optical amplifier even when the gain is arbitrarily close to unity and the added noise is negligible. These effects occur for macroscopic superposition states, where even a small amount of gain can leave a significant amount of which-path information in the environment. Our results show that the usual input/output relation of a linear amplifier does not provide a complete description of the output state when post-selection is used.

Nonlocal memory effects allow perfect teleportation with mixed states

PubMed Central

Laine, Elsi-Mari; Breuer, Heinz-Peter; Piilo, Jyrki

2014-01-01

One of the most striking consequences of quantum physics is quantum teleportation – the possibility to transfer quantum states over arbitrary distances. Since its theoretical introduction, teleportation has been demonstrated experimentally up to the distance of 143 km. In the original proposal two parties share a maximally entangled quantum state acting as a resource for the teleportation task. If, however, the state is influenced by decoherence, perfect teleportation can no longer be accomplished. Therefore, one of the current major challenges in accomplishing teleportation over long distances is to overcome the limitations imposed by decoherence and the subsequent mixedness of the resource state. Here we show that, in the presence of nonlocal memory effects, perfect quantum teleportation can be achieved even with mixed photon polarisation states. Our results imply that memory effects can be exploited in harnessing noisy quantum systems for quantum communication and that non-Markovianity is a resource for quantum information tasks. PMID:24714695

Experimental study of entanglement evolution in the presence of bit-flip and phase-shift noises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Xia; Cao, Lian-Zhen; Zhao, Jia-Qiang; Yang, Yang; Lu, Huai-Xin

2017-10-01

Because of its important role both in fundamental theory and applications in quantum information, evolution of entanglement in a quantum system under decoherence has attracted wide attention in recent years. In this paper, we experimentally generate a high-fidelity maximum entangled two-qubit state and present an experimental study of the decoherence properties of entangled pair of qubits at collective (non-collective) bit-flip and phase-shift noises. The results shown that entanglement decreasing depends on the type of the noises (collective or non-collective and bit-flip or phase-shift) and the number of qubits which are subject to the noise. When two qubits are depolarized passing through non-collective noisy channel, the decay rate is larger than that depicted for the collective noise. When two qubits passing through depolarized noisy channel, the decay rate is larger than that depicted for one qubit.

A Perron-Frobenius Type of Theorem for Quantum Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lagro, Matthew; Yang, Wei-Shih; Xiong, Sheng

2017-10-01

We define a special class of quantum operations we call Markovian and show that it has the same spectral properties as a corresponding Markov chain. We then consider a convex combination of a quantum operation and a Markovian quantum operation and show that under a norm condition its spectrum has the same properties as in the conclusion of the Perron-Frobenius theorem if its Markovian part does. Moreover, under a compatibility condition of the two operations, we show that its limiting distribution is the same as the corresponding Markov chain. We apply our general results to partially decoherent quantum random walks with decoherence strength 0 ≤ p ≤ 1. We obtain a quantum ergodic theorem for partially decoherent processes. We show that for 0 < p ≤ 1, the limiting distribution of a partially decoherent quantum random walk is the same as the limiting distribution for the classical random walk.

A universal test for gravitational decoherence

PubMed Central

Pfister, C.; Kaniewski, J.; Tomamichel, M.; Mantri, A.; Schmucker, R.; McMahon, N.; Milburn, G.; Wehner, S.

2016-01-01

Quantum mechanics and the theory of gravity are presently not compatible. A particular question is whether gravity causes decoherence. Several models for gravitational decoherence have been proposed, not all of which can be described quantum mechanically. Since quantum mechanics may need to be modified, one may question the use of quantum mechanics as a calculational tool to draw conclusions from the data of experiments concerning gravity. Here we propose a general method to estimate gravitational decoherence in an experiment that allows us to draw conclusions in any physical theory where the no-signalling principle holds, even if quantum mechanics needs to be modified. As an example, we propose a concrete experiment using optomechanics. Our work raises the interesting question whether other properties of nature could similarly be established from experimental observations alone—that is, without already having a rather well-formed theory of nature to make sense of experimental data. PMID:27694976

Localization Counteracts Decoherence in Noisy Floquet Topological Chains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rieder, M.-T.; Sieberer, L. M.; Fischer, M. H.; Fulga, I. C.

2018-05-01

The topological phases of periodically driven, or Floquet systems, rely on a perfectly periodic modulation of system parameters in time. Even the smallest deviation from periodicity leads to decoherence, causing the boundary (end) states to leak into the system's bulk. Here, we show that in one dimension this decay of topologically protected end states depends fundamentally on the nature of the bulk states: a dispersive bulk results in an exponential decay, while a localized bulk slows the decay down to a diffusive process. The localization can be due to disorder, which remarkably counteracts decoherence even when it breaks the symmetry responsible for the topological protection. We derive this result analytically, using a novel, discrete-time Floquet-Lindblad formalism and confirm our findings with the help of numerical simulations. Our results are particularly relevant for experiments, where disorder can be tailored to protect Floquet topological phases from decoherence.

Incorporating Decoherence in the Dynamic Disorder Model of Organic Semiconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Si, Wei; Yao, Yao; Wu, Chang-Qin

2014-03-01

The transport phenomena in crystalline organic semiconductors, such as pentacene, have drawn much attention recently, where the electron-phonon interaction plays a crucial role. An important advance is the dynamic disorder model proposed by Troisi et. al., which is successful in determining the carrier mobility and explaining the optical conductivity measurements. In this work, we aim to incorporate the decoherence effects in the dynamic disorder model, which is essential for the self-consistent description of the carrier dynamics. The method is based on the energy-based decoherence correction widely used in the surface hopping algorithm. The resulting dynamics shows a diffusion process of wave packets with finite localization length, which scales with the decoherence time. In addition, the calculated mobility decreases with increasing temperature. Thus the method could describe a band-like transport based on localized states, which is the type of transport anticipated in these materials.

Spontaneous decoherence of coupled harmonic oscillators confined in a ring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, ZhiRui; Zhang, ZhenWei; Xu, DaZhi; Zhao, Nan; Sun, ChangPu

2018-04-01

We study the spontaneous decoherence of coupled harmonic oscillators confined in a ring container, where the nearest-neighbor harmonic potentials are taken into consideration. Without any external symmetry-breaking field or surrounding environment, the quantum superposition state prepared in the relative degrees of freedom gradually loses its quantum coherence spontaneously. This spontaneous decoherence is interpreted by the gauge couplings between the center-of-mass and the relative degrees of freedoms, which actually originate from the symmetries of the ring geometry and the corresponding nontrivial boundary conditions. In particular, such spontaneous decoherence does not occur at all at the thermodynamic limit because the nontrivial boundary conditions become the trivial Born-von Karman boundary conditions when the perimeter of the ring container tends to infinity. Our investigation shows that a thermal macroscopic object with certain symmetries has a chance for its quantum properties to degrade even without applying an external symmetry-breaking field or surrounding environment.

Evolution of tripartite entangled states in a decohering environment and their experimental protection using dynamical decoupling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Harpreet; Arvind, Dorai, Kavita

2018-02-01

We embarked upon the task of experimental protection of different classes of tripartite entangled states, namely, the maximally entangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) and W states and the tripartite entangled state called the W W ¯ state, using dynamical decoupling. The states were created on a three-qubit NMR quantum information processor and allowed to evolve in the naturally noisy NMR environment. Tripartite entanglement was monitored at each time instant during state evolution, using negativity as an entanglement measure. It was found that the W state is most robust while the GHZ-type states are most fragile against the natural decoherence present in the NMR system. The W W ¯ state, which is in the GHZ class yet stores entanglement in a manner akin to the W state, surprisingly turned out to be more robust than the GHZ state. The experimental data were best modeled by considering the main noise channel to be an uncorrelated phase damping channel acting independently on each qubit, along with a generalized amplitude damping channel. Using dynamical decoupling, we were able to achieve a significant protection of entanglement for GHZ states. There was a marginal improvement in the state fidelity for the W state (which is already robust against natural system decoherence), while the W W ¯ state showed a significant improvement in fidelity and protection against decoherence.

Measuring quantum effects in photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes with multipartite entanglement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smyth, Cathal

This thesis is a compilation of studies on delocalization measures, entanglement, and the role of quantum coherence in electronic energy transfer (EET) in light-harvesting complexes. The first two chapters after the introduction provide foundational knowledge of quantum information and light-harvesting, respectively. Chapter 2 introduces concepts from quantum information such as purity, bipartite entanglement and criteria for its measurement. The peripheral light-harvesting complex LH2, isolated from the anoxygenic purple bacterium Rhodopseudomonas acidophila, is employed as model system of interest. This light-harvesting complex, along with a description of the process of light-harvesting, the presence of quantum coherence, and the different models used to simulate EET, are described in chapter 3. In combination these two chapters lay the foundation for chapter 4, a critical assessment of the current measures of delocalization employed in EET studies, their relationship, and overall effectiveness. The conclusion is that entanglement based measures are most effective at measuring quantum effects, and that they can be related to more conventional delocalization measures such as the inverse participation ratio (IPR) by taking into account the entropy of the system under study. All the measures within this chapter are known as bipartite measures, and only measure the strength of correlation between two sites. The fifth chapter presents the core of this thesis. Following a brief introduction to the concept of multipartite entanglement, the development of multipartite delocalization measures that give high-resolution information on quantum coherence in light-harvesting complexes is detailed. In contrast to other measures, these analytical measures can detect many body correlations in large systems undergoing decoherence. We determine that, much like the bipartite entanglement based measures of chapter 4, these measures are also a function of system entropy, and have a similar hierarchial structure as that of multipartite entanglement measures. The final chapter applies these measures to our model LH2 complex, and draws conclusions on the role of bipartite delocalization and multipartite delocalization in EET.

Non-equilibrium quantum phase transition via entanglement decoherence dynamics

PubMed Central

Lin, Yu-Chen; Yang, Pei-Yun; Zhang, Wei-Min

2016-01-01

We investigate the decoherence dynamics of continuous variable entanglement as the system-environment coupling strength varies from the weak-coupling to the strong-coupling regimes. Due to the existence of localized modes in the strong-coupling regime, the system cannot approach equilibrium with its environment, which induces a nonequilibrium quantum phase transition. We analytically solve the entanglement decoherence dynamics for an arbitrary spectral density. The nonequilibrium quantum phase transition is demonstrated as the system-environment coupling strength varies for all the Ohmic-type spectral densities. The 3-D entanglement quantum phase diagram is obtained. PMID:27713556

Communication: Standard surface hopping predicts incorrect scaling for Marcus' golden-rule rate: The decoherence problem cannot be ignored

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Landry, Brian R.; Subotnik, Joseph E.

2011-11-01

We evaluate the accuracy of Tully's surface hopping algorithm for the spin-boson model for the case of a small diabatic coupling parameter (V). We calculate the transition rates between diabatic surfaces, and we compare our results to the expected Marcus rates. We show that standard surface hopping yields an incorrect scaling with diabatic coupling (linear in V), which we demonstrate is due to an incorrect treatment of decoherence. By modifying standard surface hopping to include decoherence events, we recover the correct scaling (˜V2).

Observational constraints on quantum decoherence during inflation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Jérôme; Vennin, Vincent

2018-05-01

Since inflationary perturbations must generically couple to all degrees of freedom present in the early Universe, it is more realistic to view these fluctuations as an open quantum system interacting with an environment. Then, on very general grounds, their evolution can be modelled with a Lindblad equation. This modified evolution leads to quantum decoherence of the system, as well as to corrections to observables such as the power spectrum of curvature fluctuations. On one hand, current cosmological observations constrain the properties of possible environments and place upper bounds on the interaction strengths. On the other hand, imposing that decoherence completes by the end of inflation implies lower bounds on the interaction strengths. Therefore, the question arises of whether successful decoherence can occur without altering the power spectrum. In this paper, we systematically identify all scenarios in which this is possible. As an illustration, we discuss the case in which the environment consists of a heavy test scalar field. We show that this realises the very peculiar configuration where the correction to the power spectrum is quasi scale invariant. In that case, the presence of the environment improves the fit to the data for some inflationary models but deteriorates it for others. This clearly demonstrates that decoherence is not only of theoretical importance but can also be crucial for astrophysical observations.

Length scales involved in decoherence of trapped bosons by buffer-gas scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilz, Lukas; Rico-Pérez, Luis; Anglin, James R.

2014-05-01

We ask and answer a basic question about the length scales involved in quantum decoherence: how far apart in space do two parts of a quantum system have to be before a common quantum environment decoheres them as if they were entirely separate? We frame this question specifically in a cold atom context. How far apart do two populations of bosons have to be before an environment of thermal atoms of a different species ("buffer gas") responds to their two particle numbers separately? An initial guess for this length scale is the thermal coherence length of the buffer gas; we show that a standard Born-Markov treatment partially supports this guess, but predicts only inverse-square saturation of decoherence rates with distance, and not the much more abrupt Gaussian behavior of the buffer gas's first-order coherence. We confirm this Born-Markov result with a more rigorous theory, based on an exact solution of a two-scatterer scattering problem, which also extends the result beyond weak scattering. Finally, however, we show that when interactions within the buffer-gas reservoir are taken into account, an abrupt saturation of the decoherence rate does occur, exponentially on the length scale of the buffer gas's mean free path.

Optical decoherence studies of Tm3 +:Y3Ga5O12

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thiel, C. W.; Sinclair, N.; Tittel, W.; Cone, R. L.

2014-12-01

Decoherence of the 795 nm 3H6 to 3H4 transition in 1 %Tm3 +:Y3Ga5O12 (Tm:YGG) is studied at temperatures as low as 1.2 K. The temperature, magnetic field, frequency, and time scale (spectral diffusion) dependence of the optical coherence lifetime is measured. Our results show that the coherence lifetime is impacted less by spectral diffusion than other known thulium-doped materials. Photon echo excitation and spectral hole burning methods reveal uniform decoherence properties and the possibility to produce full transparency for persistent spectral holes across the entire 56 GHz inhomogeneous bandwidth of the optical transition. Temperature-dependent decoherence is well described by elastic Raman scattering of phonons with an additional weaker component that may arise from a low density of glass-like dynamic disorder modes (two-level systems). Analysis of the observed behavior suggests that an optical coherence lifetime approaching 1 ms may be possible in this system at temperatures below 1 K for crystals grown with optimized properties. Overall, we find that Tm:YGG has superior decoherence properties compared to other Tm-doped crystals and is a promising candidate for applications that rely on long coherence lifetimes, such as optical quantum memories and photonic signal processing.

Monte Carlo simulation of quantum Zeno effect in the brain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Georgiev, Danko

2015-12-01

Environmental decoherence appears to be the biggest obstacle for successful construction of quantum mind theories. Nevertheless, the quantum physicist Henry Stapp promoted the view that the mind could utilize quantum Zeno effect to influence brain dynamics and that the efficacy of such mental efforts would not be undermined by environmental decoherence of the brain. To address the physical plausibility of Stapp's claim, we modeled the brain using quantum tunneling of an electron in a multiple-well structure such as the voltage sensor in neuronal ion channels and performed Monte Carlo simulations of quantum Zeno effect exerted by the mind upon the brain in the presence or absence of environmental decoherence. The simulations unambiguously showed that the quantum Zeno effect breaks down for timescales greater than the brain decoherence time. To generalize the Monte Carlo simulation results for any n-level quantum system, we further analyzed the change of brain entropy due to the mind probing actions and proved a theorem according to which local projections cannot decrease the von Neumann entropy of the unconditional brain density matrix. The latter theorem establishes that Stapp's model is physically implausible but leaves a door open for future development of quantum mind theories provided the brain has a decoherence-free subspace.

Quantum Computing since Democritus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aaronson, Scott

2013-03-01

1. Atoms and the void; 2. Sets; 3. Gödel, Turing, and friends; 4. Minds and machines; 5. Paleocomplexity; 6. P, NP, and friends; 7. Randomness; 8. Crypto; 9. Quantum; 10. Quantum computing; 11. Penrose; 12. Decoherence and hidden variables; 13. Proofs; 14. How big are quantum states?; 15. Skepticism of quantum computing; 16. Learning; 17. Interactive proofs and more; 18. Fun with the Anthropic Principle; 19. Free will; 20. Time travel; 21. Cosmology and complexity; 22. Ask me anything.

PREFACE: DICE 2008 - From Quantum Mechanics through Complexity to Spacetime: the role of emergent dynamical structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diósi, Lajos; Elze, Hans-Thomas; Fronzoni, Leone; Halliwell, Jonathan; Vitiello, Giuseppe

2009-07-01

These proceedings present the Invited Lectures and Contributed Papers of the Fourth International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2008, held at Castello Pasquini, Castiglioncello (Tuscany), 22-26 September 2008. We deliver these proceedings as a means to document to the interested public, to the wider scientific community, and to the participants themselves the stimulating exchange of ideas at this conference. The steadily growing number of participants, among them acclaimed scientists in their respective fields, show its increasing attraction and a fruitful concept, based on bringing leading researchers together and in contact with a mix of advanced students and scholars. Thus, this series of meetings successfully continued from the beginning with DICE 2002, (Decoherence and Entropy in Complex Systems ed H-T Elze Lecture Notes in Physics 633 (Berlin: Springer, 2004)) followed by DICE 2004 (Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2004 ed H-T Elze Braz. Journ. Phys. 35, 2A & 2B (2005) pp 205-529 free access at: www.sbfisica.org.br/bjp) and by DICE 2006, (Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Decoherence, Information, Complexity and Entropy - DICE 2006 eds H-T Elze, L Diósi and G Vitiello Journal of Physics: Conference Series 67 (2007); free access at: http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/67/1) uniting about one hundred participants from more than twenty different countries worldwide this time. It has been a great honour and inspiration for all of us to have Professor Sir Roger Penrose from the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford with us, who presented the lecture ``Black holes, quantum theory and cosmology'' (included in this volume). Discussions under the wider theme ``From Quantum Mechanics through Complexity to Spacetime: the role of emergent dynamical structures'' took place in the very pleasant and inspiring atmosphere of Castello Pasquini, which - with its beautiful surroundings, overlooking a piece of Tuscany's coast, and with splendid weather throughout - was conducive to the success of the meeting. The 5-day program was grouped according to the following topics: Quantum Physics and Some Important Questions it Raises Emergent Dynamics, from Quantum to Brain and Beyond Exploring Quantum Mechanics Atomistic Theories of Spacetime Quantum-Entanglement/Gravity/Cosmology A Public Roundtable Discussion formed an integral part of the program under the theme ``Dialoghi sulla complessita' - dall' atomo all' Universo'' and with the participation of physicists and philosophers: F T Arecchi (Firenze), L Fronzoni (Pisa), A M Iacono (Pisa), F Luccio (Pisa) and G Vitiello (Salerno, coordinator). This event drew a large audience, who participated in the lively discussions until late in the evening. The workshop has been organized by L Diósi (Budapest), H-T Elze (Pisa, chair), L Fronzoni (Pisa), J Halliwell (London) and G Vitiello (Salerno), with great help from our conference secretaries M Pesce-Rollins (Siena) and L Baldini (Pisa) and from our students F Caravelli and E Di Nardo, both from Pisa. Several institutions and sponsors generously supported the workshop and their representatives and, in particular, the citizens of Rosignano/Castiglioncello are deeply thanked for the help and kind hospitality: Comune di Rosignano A Nenci (Sindaco di Rosignano), S Scarpellini (Segreteria sindaco), D Del Seppia (Assessore allo Sviluppo Economico del Comune di Rosignano), A Franchi (Assessore al turismo del Comune di Rosignano/Presidente dell' associazione Armunia), A Corsini (Ufficio economato del Comune di Rosignano). REA Rosignano Energia Ambiente s.p.a. F Ghelardini (Presidente della REA), A Cecchini (Ufficio - Responsabile stampa della REA). Solvay Chimica Italia s.a. Dott S Piccoli (Responsabile Relazioni Esterne, Solvay Rosignano), G Becherucci (Comunicazione e Relazioni Esterne). Associazione Armunia M Paganelli (Direttore), G Mannari (Programmazione). Special thanks go to G Mannari for her advice and great help in all the many practical matters that had to be dealt with, in order to run the meeting at Castello Pasquini smoothly. Funds made available by Universitá di Pisa, by Domus Galilaeana (Pisa), Centro Interdisciplinare per lo Studio dei Sistemi Complessi - CISSC (Pisa), Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica (Universitá di Salerno), Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici - IISF (Napoli), and by IOP Publishing (Bristol) are gratefully acknowledged. Last but not least, special thanks go to L Pesce (Vitrium Galleria, Populonia) for her artwork (``Art and Science'') displayed during the conference at Castello Pasquini. The research papers presented at the workshop, often incorporating further developments since then, or presenting original new work, have been edited by L Diósi, H-T Elze, L Fronzoni, J J Halliwell and G Vitiello, with major assistance from J Yearsley (London), which we gratefully acknowledge. They are collected here, essentially following the program of the workshop, however, divided into Invited Lectures (we regret that lectures by E Arimondo, N Gisin, and W Schleich could not be reproduced here) and Contributed Papers, respectively. In the name of all participants, we would like to thank Dr J Schwarz and G Douglas (IOP Publishing, Bristol), and their collaborators, for friendly advice, always immediate help during the editing process, and for their efforts making the Journal of Physics: Conference Series available to all. Budapest, Pisa, London and Salerno, May 2009 Lajos Diósi, Hans-Thomas Elze, Leone Fronzoni, Jonathan Halliwell and Giuseppe Vitiello

Transient quantum coherent response to a partially coherent radiation field.

PubMed

Sadeq, Zaheen S; Brumer, Paul

2014-02-21

The response of an arbitrary closed quantum system to a partially coherent electric field is investigated, with a focus on the transient coherences in the system. As a model we examine, both perturbatively and numerically, the coherences induced in a three level V system. Both rapid turn-on and pulsed turn-on effects are investigated. The effect of a long and incoherent pulse is also considered, demonstrating that during the pulse the system shows a coherent response which reduces after the pulse is over. Both the pulsed scenario and the thermally broadened CW case approach a mixed state in the long time limit, with rates dictated by the adjacent level spacings and the coherence time of the light, and via a mechanism that is distinctly different from traditional decoherence. These two excitation scenarios are also explored for a minimal "toy" model of the electronic levels in pigment protein complex PC645 by both a collisionally broadened CW laser and by a noisy pulse, where unexpectedly long transient coherence times are observed and explained. The significance of environmentally induced decoherence is noted.

Solvable Quantum Macroscopic Motions and Decoherence Mechanisms in Quantum Mechanics on Nonstandard Space

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kobayashi, Tsunehiro

1996-01-01

Quantum macroscopic motions are investigated in the scheme consisting of N-number of harmonic oscillators in terms of ultra-power representations of nonstandard analysis. Decoherence is derived from the large internal degrees of freedom of macroscopic matters.

Decoherence as a way to measure extremely soft collisions with dark matter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riedel, C. Jess; Yavin, Itay

2017-07-01

A new frontier in the search for dark matter (DM) is based on the idea of detecting the decoherence caused by DM scattering against a mesoscopic superposition of normal matter. Such superpositions are uniquely sensitive to very small momentum transfers from new particles and forces, especially DM with a mass below 100 MeV. Here we investigate what sorts of dark sectors are inaccessible with existing methods but would induce noticeable decoherence in the next generation of matter interferometers. We show that very soft but medium range (0.1 nm - 1 μ m ) elastic interactions between nuclei and DM are particularly suitable. We construct toy models for such interactions, discuss existing constraints, and delineate the expected sensitivity of forthcoming experiments. The first hints of DM in these devices would appear as small variations in the anomalous decoherence rate with a period of one sidereal day. This is a generic signature of interstellar sources of decoherence, clearly distinguishing it from terrestrial backgrounds. The OTIMA experiment under development in Vienna will begin to probe Earth-thermalizing DM once sidereal variations in the background decoherence rate are pushed below one part in a hundred for superposed 5-nm gold nanoparticles. The proposals by Bateman et al. and Geraci et al. could be similarly sensitive although they would require at least a month of data taking. DM that is absorbed or elastically reflected by the Earth, and so avoids a greenhouse density enhancement, would not be detectable by those three experiments. On the other hand, the aggressive proposals of the MAQRO collaboration and Pino et al. would immediately open up many orders of magnitude in DM mass, interaction range, and coupling strength, regardless of how DM behaves in bulk matter.

Crucial role of decoherence for electronic transport in molecular wires: Polyaniline as a case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cattena, Carlos J.; Bustos-Marún, Raúl A.; Pastawski, Horacio M.

2010-10-01

In this work we attempt to elucidate the nature of conductivity in polymers by taking the acid-base doped polyaniline (PAni) polymer. We evaluate the PAni conductance by using realistic ab initio parameters and including decoherent processes within the minimal parametrization model of D’Amato-Pastawski. In contrast to general wisdom, which associates the conducting state with coherent propagation in a periodic polaronic lattice, we show that decoherence can account for high conductance in the strongly disordered bipolaronic lattice. Hence, according to our results, there is no need of considering a mix model of “conducting” polaronic lattice islands separated by “insulating” bipolaronic lattice strands as is usually assumed for PAni. We find that without dephasing events, even very short strands of bipolaronic lattices are not able to sustain electronic transport. We also include a discussion of specific mechanisms that should be involved in decoherence rates of PAni and relate them with Marcus-Hush theory of electron transfer.

Decoherence in yeast cell populations and its implications for genome-wide expression noise.

PubMed

Briones, M R S; Bosco, F

2009-01-20

Gene expression "noise" is commonly defined as the stochastic variation of gene expression levels in different cells of the same population under identical growth conditions. Here, we tested whether this "noise" is amplified with time, as a consequence of decoherence in global gene expression profiles (genome-wide microarrays) of synchronized cells. The stochastic component of transcription causes fluctuations that tend to be amplified as time progresses, leading to a decay of correlations of expression profiles, in perfect analogy with elementary relaxation processes. Measuring decoherence, defined here as a decay in the auto-correlation function of yeast genome-wide expression profiles, we found a slowdown in the decay of correlations, opposite to what would be expected if, as in mixing systems, correlations decay exponentially as the equilibrium state is reached. Our results indicate that the populational variation in gene expression (noise) is a consequence of temporal decoherence, in which the slow decay of correlations is a signature of strong interdependence of the transcription dynamics of different genes.

Gravitational decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bassi, Angelo; Großardt, André; Ulbricht, Hendrik

2017-10-01

We discuss effects of loss of coherence in low energy quantum systems caused by or related to gravitation, referred to as gravitational decoherence. These effects, resulting from random metric fluctuations, for instance, promise to be accessible by relatively inexpensive table-top experiments, way before the scales where true quantum gravity effects become important. Therefore, they can provide a first experimental view on gravity in the quantum regime. We will survey models of decoherence induced both by classical and quantum gravitational fluctuations; it will be manifest that a clear understanding of gravitational decoherence is still lacking. Next we will review models where quantum theory is modified, under the assumption that gravity causes the collapse of the wave functions, when systems are large enough. These models challenge the quantum-gravity interplay, and can be tested experimentally. In the last part we have a look at the state of the art of experimental research. We will review efforts aiming at more and more accurate measurements of gravity (G and g) and ideas for measuring conventional and unconventional gravity effects on nonrelativistic quantum systems.

Entanglement revive and information flow within the decoherent environment.

PubMed

Shi, Jia-Dong; Wang, Dong; Ye, Liu

2016-08-10

In this paper, the dynamics of entanglement is investigated in the presence of a noisy environment. We reveal its revival behavior and probe the mechanisms of this behavior via an information-theoretic approach. By analyzing the correlation distribution and the information flow within the composite system including the qubit subsystem and a noisy environment, it has been found that the subsystem-environment coupling can induce the quasi-periodic entanglement revival. Furthermore, the dynamical relationship among tripartite correlations, bipartite entanglement and local state information is explored, which provides a new insight into the non-Markovian mechanisms during the evolution.

From quantum to classical interactions between a free electron and a surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beierle, Peter James

Quantum theory is often cited as being one of the most empirically validated theories in terms of its predictive power and precision. These attributes have led to numerous scientific discoveries and technological advancements. However, the precise relationship between quantum and classical physics remains obscure. The prevailing description is known as decoherence theory, where classical physics emerges from a more general quantum theory through environmental interaction. Sometimes referred to as the decoherence program, it does not solve the quantum measurement problem. We believe experiments performed between the microscopic and macroscopic world may help finish the program. The following considers a free electron that interacts with a surface (the environment), providing a controlled decoherence mechanism. There are non-decohering interactions to be examined and quantified before the weaker decohering effects are filtered out. In the first experiment, an electron beam passes over a surface that's illuminated by low-power laser light. This induces a surface charge redistribution causing the electron deflection. This phenomenon's parameters are investigated. This system can be well understood in terms of classical electrodynamics, and the technological applications of this electron beam switch are considered. Such phenomena may mask decoherence effects. A second experiment tests decoherence theory by introducing a nanofabricated diffraction grating before the surface. The electron undergoes diffraction through the grating, but as the electron passes over the surface it's predicted by various physical models that the electron will lose its wave interference property. Image charge based models, which predict a larger loss of contrast than what is observed, are falsified (despite experiencing an image charge force). A theoretical study demonstrates how a loss of contrast may not be due to the irreversible process decoherence, but dephasing (a reversible process due to randomization of the wavefunction's phase). To resolve this ambiguity, a correlation function on an ensemble of diffraction patterns is analyzed after an electron undergoes either process in a path integral calculation. The diffraction pattern is successfully recovered for dephasing, but not for decoherence, thus verifying it as a potential tool in experimental studies to determine the nature of the observed process.

Giant titanium electron wave function in gallium oxide: A potential electron-nuclear spin system for quantum information processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mentink-Vigier, Frédéric; Binet, Laurent; Vignoles, Gerard; Gourier, Didier; Vezin, Hervé

2010-11-01

The hyperfine interactions of the unpaired electron with eight surrounding G69a and G71a nuclei in Ti-doped β-Ga2O3 were analyzed by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopies. They are dominated by strong isotropic hyperfine couplings due to a direct Fermi contact interaction with Ga nuclei in octahedral sites of rutile-type chains oriented along b axis, revealing a large anisotropic spatial extension of the electron wave function. Titanium in β-Ga2O3 is thus best described as a diffuse (Ti4+-e-) pair rather than as a localized Ti3+ . Both electron and G69a nuclear spin Rabi oscillations could be observed by pulsed EPR and pulsed ENDOR, respectively. The electron spin decoherence time is about 1μs (at 4 K) and an upper bound of 520μs (at 8 K) is estimated for the nuclear decoherence time. Thus, β-Ga2O3:Ti appears to be a potential spin-bus system for quantum information processing with a large nuclear spin quantum register.

Spatial correlation in matter-wave interference as a measure of decoherence, dephasing, and entropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zilin; Beierle, Peter; Batelaan, Herman

2018-04-01

The loss of contrast in double-slit electron diffraction due to dephasing and decoherence processes is studied. It is shown that the spatial intensity correlation function of diffraction patterns can be used to distinguish between dephasing and decoherence. This establishes a measure of time reversibility that does not require the determination of coherence terms of the density matrix, while von Neumann entropy, another measure of time reversibility, does require coherence terms. This technique is exciting in view of the need to understand and control the detrimental experimental effect of contrast loss and for fundamental studies on the transition from the classical to the quantum regime.

Nonmaximal θ23 Mixing at NOvA from Neutrino Decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coelho, João A. B.; Mann, W. Anthony; Bashar, Saqib S.

2017-06-01

In a study of a muon-neutrino disappearance at 810 km, the NOvA experiment finds flavor mixing of the atmospheric sector to deviate from maximal (sin2θ23=0.5 ) by 2.6 σ . The result is in tension with the 295-km baseline measurements of T2K, which are consistent with maximal mixing. We propose that θ23 is in fact maximal, and that the disagreement is a harbinger of environmentally induced decoherence. The departure from maximal mixing can be accounted for by an energy-independent decoherence of strength Γ =(2.3 ±1.1 )×10-23 GeV .

Fidelity of an optical memory based on stimulated photon echoes.

PubMed

Staudt, M U; Hastings-Simon, S R; Nilsson, M; Afzelius, M; Scarani, V; Ricken, R; Suche, H; Sohler, W; Tittel, W; Gisin, N

2007-03-16

We investigated the preservation of information encoded into the relative phase and amplitudes of optical pulses during storage and retrieval in an optical memory based on stimulated photon echo. By interfering photon echoes produced in a single-mode Ti:Er:LiNbO(3) waveguide, we found that decoherence in the medium translates only as loss and not as degradation of information. We measured a visibility for interfering echoes close to 100%. These results may have important implications for future long-distance quantum communication protocols.

Exact master equation and non-Markovian decoherence dynamics of Majorana zero modes under gate-induced charge fluctuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, Hon-Lam; Yang, Pei-Yun; Huang, Yu-Wei; Zhang, Wei-Min

2018-02-01

In this paper, we use the exact master equation approach to investigate the decoherence dynamics of Majorana zero modes in the Kitaev model, a 1D p -wave spinless topological superconducting chain (TSC) that is disturbed by gate-induced charge fluctuations. The exact master equation is derived by extending Feynman-Vernon influence functional technique to fermionic open systems involving pairing excitations. We obtain the exact master equation for the zero-energy Bogoliubov quasiparticle (bogoliubon) in the TSC, and then transfer it into the master equation for the Majorana zero modes. Within this exact master equation formalism, we can describe in detail the non-Markovian decoherence dynamics of the zero-energy bogoliubon as well as Majorana zero modes under local perturbations. We find that at zero temperature, local charge fluctuations induce level broadening to one of the Majorana zero modes but there is an isolated peak (localized bound state) located at zero energy that partially protects the Majorana zero mode from decoherence. At finite temperatures, the zero-energy localized bound state does not precisely exist, but the coherence of the Majorana zero mode can still be partially but weakly protected, due to the sharp dip of the spectral density near the zero frequency. The decoherence will be enhanced as one increases the charge fluctuations and/or the temperature of the gate.

Dynamics of tripartite quantum correlations and decoherence in flux qubit systems under local and non-local static noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arthur, Tsamouo Tsokeng; Martin, Tchoffo; Fai, Lukong Cornelius

2018-06-01

We investigate the dynamics of entanglement, decoherence and quantum discord in a system of three non-interacting superconducting flux qubits (fqubits) initially prepared in a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state and subject to static noise in different, bipartite and common environments, since it is recognized that different noise configurations generally lead to completely different dynamical behavior of physical systems. The noise is modeled by randomizing the single fqubit transition amplitude. Decoherence and quantum correlations dynamics are strongly affected by the purity of the initial state, type of system-environment interaction and the system-environment coupling strength. Specifically, quantum correlations can persist when the fqubits are commonly coupled to a noise source, and reaches a saturation value respective to the purity of the initial state. As the number of decoherence channels increases (bipartite and different environments), decoherence becomes stronger against quantum correlations that decay faster, exhibiting sudden death and revival phenomena. The residual entanglement can be successfully detected by means of suitable entanglement witness, and we derive a necessary condition for entanglement detection related to the tunable and non-degenerated energy levels of fqubits. In accordance with the current literature, our results further suggest the efficiency of fqubits over ordinary ones, as far as the preservation of quantum correlations needed for quantum processing purposes is concerned.

Decoherence in models for hard-core bosons coupled to optical phonons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dey, A.; Lone, M. Q.; Yarlagadda, S.

2015-09-01

Understanding coherent dynamics of excitons, spins, or hard-core bosons (HCBs) has tremendous scientific and technological implications for quantum computation. Here, we study decay of excited-state population and decoherence in two models for HCBs, namely, a two-site HCB model with site-dependent strong potentials and subject to non-Markovian dynamics and an infinite-range HCB model governed by Markovian dynamics. Both models are investigated in the regimes of antiadiabaticity and strong HCB-phonon coupling with each site providing a different local optical phonon environment; furthermore, the HCB systems in both models are taken to be initially uncorrelated with the environment in the polaronic frame of reference. In the case of the two-site HCB model, we show clearly that the degree of decoherence and decay of excited state are enhanced by the proximity of the site-energy difference to the eigenenergy of phonons and are most pronounced when the site-energy difference is at resonance with twice the polaronic energy; additionally, the decoherence and the decay effects are reduced when the strength of HCB-phonon coupling is increased. For the infinite-range model, when the site energies are the same, we derive an effective many-body Hamiltonian that commutes with the long-range system Hamiltonian and thus has the same set of eigenstates; consequently, a quantum-master-equation approach shows that the quantum states of the system do not decohere.

Quantum control of topological defects in magnetic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takei, So; Mohseni, Masoud

2018-02-01

Energy-efficient classical information processing and storage based on topological defects in magnetic systems have been studied over the past decade. In this work, we introduce a class of macroscopic quantum devices in which a quantum state is stored in a topological defect of a magnetic insulator. We propose noninvasive methods to coherently control and read out the quantum state using ac magnetic fields and magnetic force microscopy, respectively. This macroscopic quantum spintronic device realizes the magnetic analog of the three-level rf-SQUID qubit and is built fully out of electrical insulators with no mobile electrons, thus eliminating decoherence due to the coupling of the quantum variable to an electronic continuum and energy dissipation due to Joule heating. For a domain wall size of 10-100 nm and reasonable material parameters, we estimate qubit operating temperatures in the range of 0.1-1 K, a decoherence time of about 0.01-1 μ s , and the number of Rabi flops within the coherence time scale in the range of 102-104 .

Rapid onset of decoherence in driven-dissipative Rydberg systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magnan, Eric; Boulier, Thomas; Bracamontes, Carlos; Maslek, James; Young, Jeremy; Gorshkov, Alexei; Porto, Trey; Rolston, Steven; JQI-Rubidium One Team

2017-04-01

Rydberg atoms have been strong candidates for the realization of quantum information processing and quantum simulation. Recently, however, there has been concerns about this approach due to the observation of a rapid onset of decoherence in large ensembles. In we provide experimental support for the hypothesis that this is due to the avalanche-like onset of exchange dipole interactions, fueled by blackbody transitions to nearby Rydberg states of opposite parity. Making a fully microscopic model has proven difficult as it requires beyond mean-field arguments, but the ubiquitousness of Rydberg-Rydberg blackbody transitions at room temperature and the always-resonant nature of dipole exchange interactions make it an interesting challenge, and argues for deeper study into the matter. In this poster, we present complementary measurements and analysis that confirm this mechanism. We also discuss several possibilities to reduce its impact on the system's coherence. This work was partially supported by NSF PIF, AFOSR, ARO, ARL-CDQI, and NSF PFC at JQI.

Less Decoherence and More Coherence in Quantum Gravity, Inflationary Cosmology and Elsewhere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okon, Elias; Sudarsky, Daniel

2016-07-01

In Crull (Found Phys 45:1019-1045, 2015) it is argued that, in order to confront outstanding problems in cosmology and quantum gravity, interpretational aspects of quantum theory can by bypassed because decoherence is able to resolve them. As a result, Crull (Found Phys 45:1019-1045, 2015) concludes that our focus on conceptual and interpretational issues, while dealing with such matters in Okon and Sudarsky (Found Phys 44:114-143, 2014), is avoidable and even pernicious. Here we will defend our position by showing in detail why decoherence does not help in the resolution of foundational questions in quantum mechanics, such as the measurement problem or the emergence of classicality.

Ultrafast optical control of individual quantum dot spin qubits.

PubMed

De Greve, Kristiaan; Press, David; McMahon, Peter L; Yamamoto, Yoshihisa

2013-09-01

Single spins in semiconductor quantum dots form a promising platform for solid-state quantum information processing. The spin-up and spin-down states of a single electron or hole, trapped inside a quantum dot, can represent a single qubit with a reasonably long decoherence time. The spin qubit can be optically coupled to excited (charged exciton) states that are also trapped in the quantum dot, which provides a mechanism to quickly initialize, manipulate and measure the spin state with optical pulses, and to interface between a stationary matter qubit and a 'flying' photonic qubit for quantum communication and distributed quantum information processing. The interaction of the spin qubit with light may be enhanced by placing the quantum dot inside a monolithic microcavity. An entire system, consisting of a two-dimensional array of quantum dots and a planar microcavity, may plausibly be constructed by modern semiconductor nano-fabrication technology and could offer a path toward chip-sized scalable quantum repeaters and quantum computers. This article reviews the recent experimental developments in optical control of single quantum dot spins for quantum information processing. We highlight demonstrations of a complete set of all-optical single-qubit operations on a single quantum dot spin: initialization, an arbitrary SU(2) gate, and measurement. We review the decoherence and dephasing mechanisms due to hyperfine interaction with the nuclear-spin bath, and show how the single-qubit operations can be combined to perform spin echo sequences that extend the qubit decoherence from a few nanoseconds to several microseconds, more than 5 orders of magnitude longer than the single-qubit gate time. Two-qubit coupling is discussed, both within a single chip by means of exchange coupling of nearby spins and optically induced geometric phases, as well as over longer-distances. Long-distance spin-spin entanglement can be generated if each spin can emit a photon that is entangled with the spin, and these photons are then interfered. We review recent work demonstrating entanglement between a stationary spin qubit and a flying photonic qubit. These experiments utilize the polarization- and frequency-dependent spontaneous emission from the lowest charged exciton state to single spin Zeeman sublevels.

Enhancing robustness of multiparty quantum correlations using weak measurement

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Singh, Uttam, E-mail: uttamsingh@hri.res.in; Mishra, Utkarsh, E-mail: utkarsh@hri.res.in; Dhar, Himadri Shekhar, E-mail: dhar.himadri@gmail.com

Multipartite quantum correlations are important resources for the development of quantum information and computation protocols. However, the resourcefulness of multipartite quantum correlations in practical settings is limited by its fragility under decoherence due to environmental interactions. Though there exist protocols to protect bipartite entanglement under decoherence, the implementation of such protocols for multipartite quantum correlations has not been sufficiently explored. Here, we study the effect of local amplitude damping channel on the generalized Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger state, and use a protocol of optimal reversal quantum weak measurement to protect the multipartite quantum correlations. We observe that the weak measurement reversal protocol enhancesmore » the robustness of multipartite quantum correlations. Further it increases the critical damping value that corresponds to entanglement sudden death. To emphasize the efficacy of the technique in protection of multipartite quantum correlation, we investigate two proximately related quantum communication tasks, namely, quantum teleportation in a one sender, many receivers setting and multiparty quantum information splitting, through a local amplitude damping channel. We observe an increase in the average fidelity of both the quantum communication tasks under the weak measurement reversal protocol. The method may prove beneficial, for combating external interactions, in other quantum information tasks using multipartite resources. - Highlights: • Extension of weak measurement reversal scheme to protect multiparty quantum correlations. • Protection of multiparty quantum correlation under local amplitude damping noise. • Enhanced fidelity of quantum teleportation in one sender and many receivers setting. • Enhanced fidelity of quantum information splitting protocol.« less

Towards fault tolerant adiabatic quantum computation.

PubMed

Lidar, Daniel A

2008-04-25

I show how to protect adiabatic quantum computation (AQC) against decoherence and certain control errors, using a hybrid methodology involving dynamical decoupling, subsystem and stabilizer codes, and energy gaps. Corresponding error bounds are derived. As an example, I show how to perform decoherence-protected AQC against local noise using at most two-body interactions.

Non-locality Sudden Death in Tripartite Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaeger, Gregg; Ann, Kevin

2009-03-01

Bell non-locality sudden death is the disappearance of non-local properties in finite times under local phase noise, which decoheres states only in the infinite-time limit. We consider the relationship between decoherence, disentanglement, and Bell non-locality sudden death in bipartite and tripartite systems in specific large classes of state preparation.

Decoherence-Free Interaction between Giant Atoms in Waveguide Quantum Electrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kockum, Anton Frisk; Johansson, Göran; Nori, Franco

2018-04-01

In quantum-optics experiments with both natural and artificial atoms, the atoms are usually small enough that they can be approximated as pointlike compared to the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation with which they interact. However, superconducting qubits coupled to a meandering transmission line, or to surface acoustic waves, can realize "giant artificial atoms" that couple to a bosonic field at several points which are wavelengths apart. Here, we study setups with multiple giant atoms coupled at multiple points to a one-dimensional (1D) waveguide. We show that the giant atoms can be protected from decohering through the waveguide, but still have exchange interactions mediated by the waveguide. Unlike in decoherence-free subspaces, here the entire multiatom Hilbert space (2N states for N atoms) is protected from decoherence. This is not possible with "small" atoms. We further show how this decoherence-free interaction can be designed in setups with multiple atoms to implement, e.g., a 1D chain of atoms with nearest-neighbor couplings or a collection of atoms with all-to-all connectivity. This may have important applications in quantum simulation and quantum computing.

Decoherence-Free Interaction between Giant Atoms in Waveguide Quantum Electrodynamics.

PubMed

Kockum, Anton Frisk; Johansson, Göran; Nori, Franco

2018-04-06

In quantum-optics experiments with both natural and artificial atoms, the atoms are usually small enough that they can be approximated as pointlike compared to the wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation with which they interact. However, superconducting qubits coupled to a meandering transmission line, or to surface acoustic waves, can realize "giant artificial atoms" that couple to a bosonic field at several points which are wavelengths apart. Here, we study setups with multiple giant atoms coupled at multiple points to a one-dimensional (1D) waveguide. We show that the giant atoms can be protected from decohering through the waveguide, but still have exchange interactions mediated by the waveguide. Unlike in decoherence-free subspaces, here the entire multiatom Hilbert space (2^{N} states for N atoms) is protected from decoherence. This is not possible with "small" atoms. We further show how this decoherence-free interaction can be designed in setups with multiple atoms to implement, e.g., a 1D chain of atoms with nearest-neighbor couplings or a collection of atoms with all-to-all connectivity. This may have important applications in quantum simulation and quantum computing.

Loschmidt echo as a robust decoherence quantifier for many-body systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zangara, Pablo R.; Dente, Axel D.; Levstein, Patricia R.; Pastawski, Horacio M.

2012-07-01

We employ the Loschmidt echo, i.e., the signal recovered after the reversal of an evolution, to identify and quantify the processes contributing to decoherence. This procedure, which has been extensively used in single-particle physics, is employed here in a spin ladder. The isolated chains have 1/2 spins with XY interaction and their excitations would sustain a one-body-like propagation. One of them constitutes the controlled system S whose reversible dynamics is degraded by the weak coupling with the uncontrolled second chain, i.e., the environment E. The perturbative SE coupling is swept through arbitrary combinations of XY and Ising-like interactions, that contain the standard Heisenberg and dipolar ones. Different time regimes are identified for the Loschmidt echo dynamics in this perturbative configuration. In particular, the exponential decay scales as a Fermi golden rule, where the contributions of the different SE terms are individually evaluated and analyzed. Comparisons with previous analytical and numerical evaluations of decoherence based on the attenuation of specific interferences show that the Loschmidt echo is an advantageous decoherence quantifier at any time, regardless of the S internal dynamics.

Electronic decoherence of two-level systems in a Josephson junction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bilmes, Alexander; Zanker, Sebastian; Heimes, Andreas; Marthaler, Michael; Schön, Gerd; Weiss, Georg; Ustinov, Alexey V.; Lisenfeld, Jürgen

2017-08-01

The sensitivity of superconducting qubits allows for spectroscopy and coherence measurements on individual two-level systems present in the disordered tunnel barrier of an Al /AlOx /Al Josephson junction. We report experimental evidence for the decoherence of two-level systems by Bogoliubov quasiparticles leaking into the insulating AlOx barrier. We control the density of quasiparticles in the junction electrodes either by the sample temperature or by injecting them using an on-chip dc superconducting quantum interference device driven to its resistive state. The decoherence rates were measured by observing the two-level system's quantum state evolving under application of resonant microwave pulses and were found to increase linearly with quasiparticle density, in agreement with theory. This interaction with electronic states provides a noise and decoherence mechanism that is relevant for various microfabricated devices such as qubits, single-electron transistors, and field-effect transistors. The presented experiments also offer a possibility to determine the location of the probed two-level systems across the tunnel barrier, providing clues about the fabrication step in which they emerge.

Quantum information processing with long-wavelength radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murgia, David; Weidt, Sebastian; Randall, Joseph; Lekitsch, Bjoern; Webster, Simon; Navickas, Tomas; Grounds, Anton; Rodriguez, Andrea; Webb, Anna; Standing, Eamon; Pearce, Stuart; Sari, Ibrahim; Kiang, Kian; Rattanasonti, Hwanjit; Kraft, Michael; Hensinger, Winfried

To this point, the entanglement of ions has predominantly been performed using lasers. Using long wavelength radiation with static magnetic field gradients provides an architecture to simplify construction of a large scale quantum computer. The use of microwave-dressed states protects against decoherence from fluctuating magnetic fields, with radio-frequency fields used for qubit manipulation. I will report the realisation of spin-motion entanglement using long-wavelength radiation, and a new method to efficiently prepare dressed-state qubits and qutrits, reducing experimental complexity of gate operations. I will also report demonstration of ground state cooling using long wavelength radiation, which may increase two-qubit entanglement fidelity. I will then report demonstration of a high-fidelity long-wavelength two-ion quantum gate using dressed states. Combining these results with microfabricated ion traps allows for scaling towards a large scale ion trap quantum computer, and provides a platform for quantum simulations of fundamental physics. I will report progress towards the operation of microchip ion traps with extremely high magnetic field gradients for multi-ion quantum gates.

Active measurement-based quantum feedback for preparing and stabilizing superpositions of two cavity photon number states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berube-Lauziere, Yves

The measurement-based quantum feedback scheme developed and implemented by Haroche and collaborators to actively prepare and stabilize specific photon number states in cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED) is a milestone achievement in the active protection of quantum states from decoherence. This feat was achieved by injecting, after each weak dispersive measurement of the cavity state via Rydberg atoms serving as cavity sensors, a low average number classical field (coherent state) to steer the cavity towards the targeted number state. This talk will present the generalization of the theory developed for targeting number states in order to prepare and stabilize desired superpositions of two cavity photon number states. Results from realistic simulations taking into account decoherence and imperfections in a CQED set-up will be presented. These demonstrate the validity of the generalized theory and points to the experimental feasibility of preparing and stabilizing such superpositions. This is a further step towards the active protection of more complex quantum states than number states. This work, cast in the context of CQED, is also almost readily applicable to circuit QED. YBL acknowledges financial support from the Institut Quantique through a Canada First Research Excellence Fund.

Quantum Two Player Game in Thermal Environment

PubMed Central

Dajka, Jerzy; Kłoda, Dawid; Łobejko, Marcin; Sładkowski, Jan

2015-01-01

A two-player quantum game is considered in the presence of thermal decoherence. It is shown how the thermal environment modeled in terms of rigorous Davies approach affects payoffs of the players. The conditions for either beneficial or pernicious effect of decoherence are identified. The general considerations are exemplified by the quantum version of Prisoner Dilemma. PMID:26322833

Decoherence effect in neutrinos produced in microquasar jets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mosquera, M. E.; Civitarese, O.

2018-04-01

We study the effect of decoherence upon the neutrino spectra produced in microquasar jets. In order to analyse the precession of the polarization vector of neutrinos we have calculated its time evolution by solving the corresponding equations of motion, and by assuming two different scenarios, namely: (i) the mixing between two active neutrinos, and (ii) the mixing between one active and one sterile neutrino. The results of the calculations corresponding to these scenarios show that the onset of decoherence does not depends on the activation of neutrino-neutrino interactions when realistic values of the coupling are used in the calculations. We discuss also the case of neutrinos produced in windy microquasars and compare the results which those obtained with more conventional models of microquasars.

Synchronization versus decoherence of neutrino oscillations at intermediate densities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Raffelt, Georg G.; Tamborra, Irene

2010-12-15

We study collective oscillations of a two-flavor neutrino system with arbitrary but fixed density. In the vacuum limit, modes with different energies quickly dephase (kinematical decoherence), whereas in the limit of infinite density they lock to each other (synchronization). For intermediate densities, we find different classes of solutions. There is always a phase transition in the sense of partial synchronization occurring only above a density threshold. For small mixing angles, partial or complete decoherence can be induced by a parametric resonance, introducing a new time scale to the problem, the final outcome depending on the spectrum and mixing angle. Wemore » derive an analytic relation that allows us to calculate the late-time degree of coherence based on the spectrum alone.« less

Slowing Quantum Decoherence by Squeezing in Phase Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le Jeannic, H.; Cavaillès, A.; Huang, K.; Filip, R.; Laurat, J.

2018-02-01

Non-Gaussian states, and specifically the paradigmatic cat state, are well known to be very sensitive to losses. When propagating through damping channels, these states quickly lose their nonclassical features and the associated negative oscillations of their Wigner function. However, by squeezing the superposition states, the decoherence process can be qualitatively changed and substantially slowed down. Here, as a first example, we experimentally observe the reduced decoherence of squeezed optical coherent-state superpositions through a lossy channel. To quantify the robustness of states, we introduce a combination of a decaying value and a rate of decay of the Wigner function negativity. This work, which uses squeezing as an ancillary Gaussian resource, opens new possibilities to protect and manipulate quantum superpositions in phase space.

Is the Universe Really That Simple?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cirkovic, Milan M.

2002-07-01

The intriguing recent suggestion of Tegmark that the universe - contrary to all our experiences and expectations - contains only a small amount of information due to an extremely high degree of internal symmetry is critically examined. It is shown that there are several physical processes, notably Hawking evaporation of black holes and non-zero decoherence time effects described by Plaga, as well as thought experiments of Deutsch and Tegmark himself, which can be construed as arguments against the low-information universe hypothesis. Some ramifications for both quantum mechanics and cosmology are briefly discussed.

The black hole information paradox and highly squeezed interior quantum fluctuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oshita, Naritaka

2017-10-01

Almheiri, Marolf, Polchinski, and Sully argued that, for a consistent black hole evaporation process, the horizon of a sufficiently old black hole should be replaced by a ‘firewall’ at which an infalling observer burns up, which obviously leads to the violation of the equivalence principle. We propose that once the infalling partner of an outgoing Hawking particle approaches a black hole singularity, it experiences decoherence and the loss of its entanglement with the outgoing Hawking particle. This implies we would no longer need firewalls to avoid the black hole information paradox.

Deterministic Remote Entanglement of Superconducting Circuits through Microwave Two-Photon Transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campagne-Ibarcq, P.; Zalys-Geller, E.; Narla, A.; Shankar, S.; Reinhold, P.; Burkhart, L.; Axline, C.; Pfaff, W.; Frunzio, L.; Schoelkopf, R. J.; Devoret, M. H.

2018-05-01

Large-scale quantum information processing networks will most probably require the entanglement of distant systems that do not interact directly. This can be done by performing entangling gates between standing information carriers, used as memories or local computational resources, and flying ones, acting as quantum buses. We report the deterministic entanglement of two remote transmon qubits by Raman stimulated emission and absorption of a traveling photon wave packet. We achieve a Bell state fidelity of 73%, well explained by losses in the transmission line and decoherence of each qubit.

Deterministic Remote Entanglement of Superconducting Circuits through Microwave Two-Photon Transitions.

PubMed

Campagne-Ibarcq, P; Zalys-Geller, E; Narla, A; Shankar, S; Reinhold, P; Burkhart, L; Axline, C; Pfaff, W; Frunzio, L; Schoelkopf, R J; Devoret, M H

2018-05-18

Large-scale quantum information processing networks will most probably require the entanglement of distant systems that do not interact directly. This can be done by performing entangling gates between standing information carriers, used as memories or local computational resources, and flying ones, acting as quantum buses. We report the deterministic entanglement of two remote transmon qubits by Raman stimulated emission and absorption of a traveling photon wave packet. We achieve a Bell state fidelity of 73%, well explained by losses in the transmission line and decoherence of each qubit.

Underlying Information Technology Tailored Quantum Error Correction

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-07-28

typically constructed by using an optical beam splitter . • We used a decoherence-free-subspace encoding to reduce the sensitivity of an optical Deutsch...simplification of design constraints in solid state QC (incl. quantum dots and superconducting qubits), hybrid quantum error correction and prevention methods...process tomography on one- and two-photon polarisation states, from full and partial data "• Accomplished complete two-photon QPT. "• Discovered surprising

A scalable quantum computer with ions in an array of microtraps

PubMed

Cirac; Zoller

2000-04-06

Quantum computers require the storage of quantum information in a set of two-level systems (called qubits), the processing of this information using quantum gates and a means of final readout. So far, only a few systems have been identified as potentially viable quantum computer models--accurate quantum control of the coherent evolution is required in order to realize gate operations, while at the same time decoherence must be avoided. Examples include quantum optical systems (such as those utilizing trapped ions or neutral atoms, cavity quantum electrodynamics and nuclear magnetic resonance) and solid state systems (using nuclear spins, quantum dots and Josephson junctions). The most advanced candidates are the quantum optical and nuclear magnetic resonance systems, and we expect that they will allow quantum computing with about ten qubits within the next few years. This is still far from the numbers required for useful applications: for example, the factorization of a 200-digit number requires about 3,500 qubits, rising to 100,000 if error correction is implemented. Scalability of proposed quantum computer architectures to many qubits is thus of central importance. Here we propose a model for an ion trap quantum computer that combines scalability (a feature usually associated with solid state proposals) with the advantages of quantum optical systems (in particular, quantum control and long decoherence times).

Electronic energy transfer through non-adiabatic vibrational-electronic resonance. I. Theory for a dimer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiwari, Vivek; Peters, William K.; Jonas, David M.

2017-10-01

Non-adiabatic vibrational-electronic resonance in the excited electronic states of natural photosynthetic antennas drastically alters the adiabatic framework, in which electronic energy transfer has been conventionally studied, and suggests the possibility of exploiting non-adiabatic dynamics for directed energy transfer. Here, a generalized dimer model incorporates asymmetries between pigments, coupling to the environment, and the doubly excited state relevant for nonlinear spectroscopy. For this generalized dimer model, the vibrational tuning vector that drives energy transfer is derived and connected to decoherence between singly excited states. A correlation vector is connected to decoherence between the ground state and the doubly excited state. Optical decoherence between the ground and singly excited states involves linear combinations of the correlation and tuning vectors. Excitonic coupling modifies the tuning vector. The correlation and tuning vectors are not always orthogonal, and both can be asymmetric under pigment exchange, which affects energy transfer. For equal pigment vibrational frequencies, the nonadiabatic tuning vector becomes an anti-correlated delocalized linear combination of intramolecular vibrations of the two pigments, and the nonadiabatic energy transfer dynamics become separable. With exchange symmetry, the correlation and tuning vectors become delocalized intramolecular vibrations that are symmetric and antisymmetric under pigment exchange. Diabatic criteria for vibrational-excitonic resonance demonstrate that anti-correlated vibrations increase the range and speed of vibronically resonant energy transfer (the Golden Rule rate is a factor of 2 faster). A partial trace analysis shows that vibronic decoherence for a vibrational-excitonic resonance between two excitons is slower than their purely excitonic decoherence.

Electronic energy transfer through non-adiabatic vibrational-electronic resonance. I. Theory for a dimer.

PubMed

Tiwari, Vivek; Peters, William K; Jonas, David M

2017-10-21

Non-adiabatic vibrational-electronic resonance in the excited electronic states of natural photosynthetic antennas drastically alters the adiabatic framework, in which electronic energy transfer has been conventionally studied, and suggests the possibility of exploiting non-adiabatic dynamics for directed energy transfer. Here, a generalized dimer model incorporates asymmetries between pigments, coupling to the environment, and the doubly excited state relevant for nonlinear spectroscopy. For this generalized dimer model, the vibrational tuning vector that drives energy transfer is derived and connected to decoherence between singly excited states. A correlation vector is connected to decoherence between the ground state and the doubly excited state. Optical decoherence between the ground and singly excited states involves linear combinations of the correlation and tuning vectors. Excitonic coupling modifies the tuning vector. The correlation and tuning vectors are not always orthogonal, and both can be asymmetric under pigment exchange, which affects energy transfer. For equal pigment vibrational frequencies, the nonadiabatic tuning vector becomes an anti-correlated delocalized linear combination of intramolecular vibrations of the two pigments, and the nonadiabatic energy transfer dynamics become separable. With exchange symmetry, the correlation and tuning vectors become delocalized intramolecular vibrations that are symmetric and antisymmetric under pigment exchange. Diabatic criteria for vibrational-excitonic resonance demonstrate that anti-correlated vibrations increase the range and speed of vibronically resonant energy transfer (the Golden Rule rate is a factor of 2 faster). A partial trace analysis shows that vibronic decoherence for a vibrational-excitonic resonance between two excitons is slower than their purely excitonic decoherence.

Decoherence and surface hopping: When can averaging over initial conditions help capture the effects of wave packet separation?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subotnik, Joseph E.; Shenvi, Neil

2011-06-01

Fewest-switches surface hopping (FSSH) is a popular nonadiabatic dynamics method which treats nuclei with classical mechanics and electrons with quantum mechanics. In order to simulate the motion of a wave packet as accurately as possible, standard FSSH requires a stochastic sampling of the trajectories over a distribution of initial conditions corresponding, e.g., to the Wigner distribution of the initial quantum wave packet. Although it is well-known that FSSH does not properly account for decoherence effects, there is some confusion in the literature about whether or not this averaging over a distribution of initial conditions can approximate some of the effects of decoherence. In this paper, we not only show that averaging over initial conditions does not generally account for decoherence, but also why it fails to do so. We also show how an apparent improvement in accuracy can be obtained for a fortuitous choice of model problems, even though this improvement is not possible, in general. For a basic set of one-dimensional and two-dimensional examples, we find significantly improved results using our recently introduced augmented FSSH algorithm.

Quantum interference measurement of spin interactions in a bio-organic/semiconductor device structure

DOE PAGES

Deo, Vincent; Zhang, Yao; Soghomonian, Victoria; ...

2015-03-30

Quantum interference is used to measure the spin interactions between an InAs surface electron system and the iron center in the biomolecule hemin in nanometer proximity in a bio-organic/semiconductor device structure. The interference quantifies the influence of hemin on the spin decoherence properties of the surface electrons. The decoherence times of the electrons serve to characterize the biomolecule, in an electronic complement to the use of spin decoherence times in magnetic resonance. Hemin, prototypical for the heme group in hemoglobin, is used to demonstrate the method, as a representative biomolecule where the spin state of a metal ion affects biologicalmore » functions. The electronic determination of spin decoherence properties relies on the quantum correction of antilocalization, a result of quantum interference in the electron system. Spin-flip scattering is found to increase with temperature due to hemin, signifying a spin exchange between the iron center and the electrons, thus implying interactions between a biomolecule and a solid-state system in the hemin/InAs hybrid structure. The results also indicate the feasibility of artificial bioinspired materials using tunable carrier systems to mediate interactions between biological entities.« less

Expedited Holonomic Quantum Computation via Net Zero-Energy-Cost Control in Decoherence-Free Subspace.

PubMed

Pyshkin, P V; Luo, Da-Wei; Jing, Jun; You, J Q; Wu, Lian-Ao

2016-11-25

Holonomic quantum computation (HQC) may not show its full potential in quantum speedup due to the prerequisite of a long coherent runtime imposed by the adiabatic condition. Here we show that the conventional HQC can be dramatically accelerated by using external control fields, of which the effectiveness is exclusively determined by the integral of the control fields in the time domain. This control scheme can be realized with net zero energy cost and it is fault-tolerant against fluctuation and noise, significantly relaxing the experimental constraints. We demonstrate how to realize the scheme via decoherence-free subspaces. In this way we unify quantum robustness merits of this fault-tolerant control scheme, the conventional HQC and decoherence-free subspace, and propose an expedited holonomic quantum computation protocol.

Expedited Holonomic Quantum Computation via Net Zero-Energy-Cost Control in Decoherence-Free Subspace

PubMed Central

Pyshkin, P. V.; Luo, Da-Wei; Jing, Jun; You, J. Q.; Wu, Lian-Ao

2016-01-01

Holonomic quantum computation (HQC) may not show its full potential in quantum speedup due to the prerequisite of a long coherent runtime imposed by the adiabatic condition. Here we show that the conventional HQC can be dramatically accelerated by using external control fields, of which the effectiveness is exclusively determined by the integral of the control fields in the time domain. This control scheme can be realized with net zero energy cost and it is fault-tolerant against fluctuation and noise, significantly relaxing the experimental constraints. We demonstrate how to realize the scheme via decoherence-free subspaces. In this way we unify quantum robustness merits of this fault-tolerant control scheme, the conventional HQC and decoherence-free subspace, and propose an expedited holonomic quantum computation protocol. PMID:27886234

Extending the electron spin coherence time of atomic hydrogen by dynamical decoupling.

PubMed

Mitrikas, George; Efthimiadou, Eleni K; Kordas, George

2014-02-14

We study the electron spin decoherence of encapsulated atomic hydrogen in octasilsesquioxane cages induced by the (1)H and (29)Si nuclear spin bath. By applying the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) pulse sequence we significantly suppress the low-frequency noise due to nuclear spin flip-flops up to the point where a maximum T2 = 56 μs is observed. Moreover, dynamical decoupling with the CPMG sequence reveals the existence of two other sources of decoherence: first, a classical magnetic field noise imposed by the (1)H nuclear spins of the cage organic substituents, which can be described by a virtual fluctuating magnetic field with the proton Larmor frequency, and second, decoherence due to anisotropic hyperfine coupling between the electron and the inner (29)Si spins of the cage.

Spin entanglement, decoherence and Bohm's EPR paradox.

PubMed

Cavalcanti, E G; Drummond, P D; Bachor, H A; Reid, M D

2009-10-12

We obtain criteria for entanglement and the EPR paradox for spin-entangled particles and analyse the effects of decoherence caused by absorption and state purity errors. For a two qubit photonic state, entanglement can occur for all transmission efficiencies. In this case, the state preparation purity must be above a threshold value. However, Bohm's spin EPR paradox can be achieved only above a critical level of loss. We calculate a required efficiency of 58%, which appears achievable with current quantum optical technologies. For a macroscopic number of particles prepared in a correlated state, spin entanglement and the EPR paradox can be demonstrated using our criteria for efficiencies eta > 1/3 and eta > 2/3 respectively. This indicates a surprising insensitivity to loss decoherence, in a macroscopic system of ultra-cold atoms or photons.

Non-Markovianity and reservoir memory of quantum channels: a quantum information theory perspective

PubMed Central

Bylicka, B.; Chruściński, D.; Maniscalco, S.

2014-01-01

Quantum technologies rely on the ability to coherently transfer information encoded in quantum states along quantum channels. Decoherence induced by the environment sets limits on the efficiency of any quantum-enhanced protocol. Generally, the longer a quantum channel is the worse its capacity is. We show that for non-Markovian quantum channels this is not always true: surprisingly the capacity of a longer channel can be greater than of a shorter one. We introduce a general theoretical framework linking non-Markovianity to the capacities of quantum channels and demonstrate how harnessing non-Markovianity may improve the efficiency of quantum information processing and communication. PMID:25043763

Storing quantum information for 30 seconds in a nanoelectronic device.

PubMed

Muhonen, Juha T; Dehollain, Juan P; Laucht, Arne; Hudson, Fay E; Kalra, Rachpon; Sekiguchi, Takeharu; Itoh, Kohei M; Jamieson, David N; McCallum, Jeffrey C; Dzurak, Andrew S; Morello, Andrea

2014-12-01

The spin of an electron or a nucleus in a semiconductor naturally implements the unit of quantum information--the qubit. In addition, because semiconductors are currently used in the electronics industry, developing qubits in semiconductors would be a promising route to realize scalable quantum information devices. The solid-state environment, however, may provide deleterious interactions between the qubit and the nuclear spins of surrounding atoms, or charge and spin fluctuations arising from defects in oxides and interfaces. For materials such as silicon, enrichment of the spin-zero (28)Si isotope drastically reduces spin-bath decoherence. Experiments on bulk spin ensembles in (28)Si crystals have indeed demonstrated extraordinary coherence times. However, it remained unclear whether these would persist at the single-spin level, in gated nanostructures near amorphous interfaces. Here, we present the coherent operation of individual (31)P electron and nuclear spin qubits in a top-gated nanostructure, fabricated on an isotopically engineered (28)Si substrate. The (31)P nuclear spin sets the new benchmark coherence time (>30 s with Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence) of any single qubit in the solid state and reaches >99.99% control fidelity. The electron spin CPMG coherence time exceeds 0.5 s, and detailed noise spectroscopy indicates that--contrary to widespread belief--it is not limited by the proximity to an interface. Instead, decoherence is probably dominated by thermal and magnetic noise external to the device, and is thus amenable to further improvement.

Decision theory and information propagation in quantum physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forrester, Alan

In recent papers, Zurek [(2005). Probabilities from entanglement, Born's rule p k =| ψ k | 2 from entanglement. Physical Review A, 71, 052105] has objected to the decision-theoretic approach of Deutsch [(1999) Quantum theory of probability and decisions. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A, 455, 3129-3137] and Wallace [(2003). Everettian rationality: defending Deutsch's approach to probability in the Everett interpretation. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 34, 415-438] to deriving the Born rule for quantum probabilities on the grounds that it courts circularity. Deutsch and Wallace assume that the many worlds theory is true and that decoherence gives rise to a preferred basis. However, decoherence arguments use the reduced density matrix, which relies upon the partial trace and hence upon the Born rule for its validity. Using the Heisenberg picture and quantum Darwinism-the notion that classical information is quantum information that can proliferate in the environment pioneered in Ollivier et al. [(2004). Objective properties from subjective quantum states: Environment as a witness. Physical Review Letters, 93, 220401 and (2005). Environment as a witness: Selective proliferation of information and emergence of objectivity in a quantum universe. Physical Review A, 72, 042113]-I show that measurement interactions between two systems only create correlations between a specific set of commuting observables of system 1 and a specific set of commuting observables of system 2. This argument picks out a unique basis in which information flows in the correlations between those sets of commuting observables. I then derive the Born rule for both pure and mixed states and answer some other criticisms of the decision theoretic approach to quantum probability.

Hamiltonian quantum simulation with bounded-strength controls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bookatz, Adam D.; Wocjan, Pawel; Viola, Lorenza

2014-04-01

We propose dynamical control schemes for Hamiltonian simulation in many-body quantum systems that avoid instantaneous control operations and rely solely on realistic bounded-strength control Hamiltonians. Each simulation protocol consists of periodic repetitions of a basic control block, constructed as a modification of an ‘Eulerian decoupling cycle,’ that would otherwise implement a trivial (zero) target Hamiltonian. For an open quantum system coupled to an uncontrollable environment, our approach may be employed to engineer an effective evolution that simulates a target Hamiltonian on the system while suppressing unwanted decoherence to the leading order, thereby allowing for dynamically corrected simulation. We present illustrative applications to both closed- and open-system simulation settings, with emphasis on simulation of non-local (two-body) Hamiltonians using only local (one-body) controls. In particular, we provide simulation schemes applicable to Heisenberg-coupled spin chains exposed to general linear decoherence, and show how to simulate Kitaev's honeycomb lattice Hamiltonian starting from Ising-coupled qubits, as potentially relevant to the dynamical generation of a topologically protected quantum memory. Additional implications for quantum information processing are discussed.

On Macroscopic Quantum Phenomena in Biomolecules and Cells: From Levinthal to Hopfield

PubMed Central

Raković, Dejan; Dugić, Miroljub; Jeknić-Dugić, Jasmina; Plavšić, Milenko; Jaćimovski, Stevo; Šetrajčić, Jovan

2014-01-01

In the context of the macroscopic quantum phenomena of the second kind, we hereby seek for a solution-in-principle of the long standing problem of the polymer folding, which was considered by Levinthal as (semi)classically intractable. To illuminate it, we applied quantum-chemical and quantum decoherence approaches to conformational transitions. Our analyses imply the existence of novel macroscopic quantum biomolecular phenomena, with biomolecular chain folding in an open environment considered as a subtle interplay between energy and conformation eigenstates of this biomolecule, governed by quantum-chemical and quantum decoherence laws. On the other hand, within an open biological cell, a system of all identical (noninteracting and dynamically noncoupled) biomolecular proteins might be considered as corresponding spatial quantum ensemble of these identical biomolecular processors, providing spatially distributed quantum solution to a single corresponding biomolecular chain folding, whose density of conformational states might be represented as Hopfield-like quantum-holographic associative neural network too (providing an equivalent global quantum-informational alternative to standard molecular-biology local biochemical approach in biomolecules and cells and higher hierarchical levels of organism, as well). PMID:25028662

Realistic continuous-variable quantum teleportation with non-Gaussian resources

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dell'Anno, F.; De Siena, S.; CNR-INFM Coherentia, Napoli, Italy, and CNISM and INFN Sezione di Napoli, Gruppo Collegato di Salerno, Baronissi, SA

2010-01-15

We present a comprehensive investigation of nonideal continuous-variable quantum teleportation implemented with entangled non-Gaussian resources. We discuss in a unified framework the main decoherence mechanisms, including imperfect Bell measurements and propagation of optical fields in lossy fibers, applying the formalism of the characteristic function. By exploiting appropriate displacement strategies, we compute analytically the success probability of teleportation for input coherent states and two classes of non-Gaussian entangled resources: two-mode squeezed Bell-like states (that include as particular cases photon-added and photon-subtracted de-Gaussified states), and two-mode squeezed catlike states. We discuss the optimization procedure on the free parameters of the non-Gaussian resourcesmore » at fixed values of the squeezing and of the experimental quantities determining the inefficiencies of the nonideal protocol. It is found that non-Gaussian resources enhance significantly the efficiency of teleportation and are more robust against decoherence than the corresponding Gaussian ones. Partial information on the alphabet of input states allows further significant improvement in the performance of the nonideal teleportation protocol.« less

Detecting gravitational decoherence with clocks: Limits on temporal resolution from a classical-channel model of gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khosla, Kiran E.; Altamirano, Natacha

2017-05-01

The notion of time is given a different footing in quantum mechanics and general relativity, treated as a parameter in the former and being an observer-dependent property in the latter. From an operational point of view time is simply the correlation between a system and a clock, where an idealized clock can be modeled as a two-level system. We investigate the dynamics of clocks interacting gravitationally by treating the gravitational interaction as a classical information channel. This model, known as the classical-channel gravity (CCG), postulates that gravity is mediated by a fundamentally classical force carrier and is therefore unable to entangle particles gravitationally. In particular, we focus on the decoherence rates and temporal resolution of arrays of N clocks, showing how the minimum dephasing rate scales with N , and the spatial configuration. Furthermore, we consider the gravitational redshift between a clock and a massive particle and show that a classical-channel model of gravity predicts a finite-dephasing rate from the nonlocal interaction. In our model we obtain a fundamental limitation in time accuracy that is intrinsic to each clock.

Selective coupling of individual electron and nuclear spins with integrated all-spin coherence protection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Terletska, Hanna; Dobrovitski, Viatcheslav

2015-03-01

The electron spin of the NV center in diamond is a promising platform for spin sensing. Applying the dynamical decoupling, the NV electron spin can be used to detect the individual weakly coupled carbon-13 nuclear spins in diamond and employ them for small-scale quantum information processing. However, the nuclear spins within this approach remain unprotected from decoherence, which ultimately limits the detection and restricts the fidelity of the quantum operation. Here we investigate possible schemes for combining the resonant decoupling on the NV spin with the decoherence protection of the nuclear spins. Considering several schemes based on pulse and continuous-wave decoupling, we study how the joint electron-nuclear spin dynamics is affected. We identify regimes where the all-spin coherence protection improves the detection and manipulation. We also discuss potential applications of the all-spin decoupling for detecting spins outside diamond, with the purpose of implementing the nanoscale NMR. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy Basic Energy Sciences (Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358).

Nonclassical thermal-state superpositions: Analytical evolution law and decoherence behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, Xiang-guo; Goan, Hsi-Sheng; Wang, Ji-suo; Zhang, Ran

2018-03-01

Employing the integration technique within normal products of bosonic operators, we present normal product representations of thermal-state superpositions and investigate their nonclassical features, such as quadrature squeezing, sub-Poissonian distribution, and partial negativity of the Wigner function. We also analytically and numerically investigate their evolution law and decoherence characteristics in an amplitude-decay model via the variations of the probability distributions and the negative volumes of Wigner functions in phase space. The results indicate that the evolution formulas of two thermal component states for amplitude decay can be viewed as the same integral form as a displaced thermal state ρ(V , d) , but governed by the combined action of photon loss and thermal noise. In addition, the larger values of the displacement d and noise V lead to faster decoherence for thermal-state superpositions.

Sudden death of entanglement and non-locality in two- and three-component quantum systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ann, Kevin

2011-12-01

Quantum entanglement and non-locality are non-classical characteristics of quantum states with phase coherence that are of central importance to physics, and relevant to the foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum information science. This thesis examines quantum entanglement and non-locality in two- and three-component quantum states with phase coherence when they are subject to statistically independent, classical, Markovian, phase noise in various combinations at the local and collective level. Because this noise reduces phase coherence, it can also reduce quantum entanglement and Bell non-locality. After introducing and contextualizing the research, the results are presented in three broad areas. The first area characterizes the relative time scales of decoherence and disentanglement in 2 x 2 and 3 x 3 quantum states, as well as the various subsystems of the two classes of entangled tripartite two-level quantum states. In all cases, it was found that disentanglement time scales are less than or equal to decoherence time scales. The second area examines the finite-time loss of entanglement, even as quantum state coherence is lost only asymptotically in time due to local dephasing noise, a phenomenon entitled "Entanglement Sudden Death" (ESD). Extending the initial discovery in the simplest 2 x 2 case, ESD is shown to exist in all other systems where mixed-state entanglement measures exist, the 2 x 3 and d x d systems, for finite d > 2. The third area concerns non-locality, which is a physical phenomenon independent of quantum mechanics and related to, though fundamentally different from, entanglement. Non-locality, as quantified by classes of Bell inequalities, is shown to be lost in finite time, even when decoherence occurs only asymptotically. This phenomenon was named "Bell Non-locality Sudden Death" (BNSD).

Momentum distributions for the quantum delta-kicked rotor with decoherence

PubMed

Vant; Ball; Christensen

2000-05-01

We report on the momentum distribution line shapes for the quantum delta-kicked rotor in the presence of environment induced decoherence. Experimental and numerical results are presented. In the experiment ultracold cesium atoms are subjected to a pulsed standing wave of near resonant light. Spontaneous scattering of photons destroys dynamical localization. For the scattering rates used in our experiment the momentum distribution shapes remain essentially exponential.

Quantum eraser and the decoherence time of a measurement process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abranyos, Y.; Jakob, M.; Bergou, J.

1999-10-01

We propose a which path quantum eraser scheme based on a recent experiment by Eichmann et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 2359 (1993)] involving two four-level atoms. We show that the quantum eraser can be used for the detection of the decoherence time of macroscopic or mesoscopic entangled superpositions of pointer states of a meter with one of the two atoms, by the visibility of the interference pattern.

Quantum Error Correction Protects Quantum Search Algorithms Against Decoherence

PubMed Central

Botsinis, Panagiotis; Babar, Zunaira; Alanis, Dimitrios; Chandra, Daryus; Nguyen, Hung; Ng, Soon Xin; Hanzo, Lajos

2016-01-01

When quantum computing becomes a wide-spread commercial reality, Quantum Search Algorithms (QSA) and especially Grover’s QSA will inevitably be one of their main applications, constituting their cornerstone. Most of the literature assumes that the quantum circuits are free from decoherence. Practically, decoherence will remain unavoidable as is the Gaussian noise of classic circuits imposed by the Brownian motion of electrons, hence it may have to be mitigated. In this contribution, we investigate the effect of quantum noise on the performance of QSAs, in terms of their success probability as a function of the database size to be searched, when decoherence is modelled by depolarizing channels’ deleterious effects imposed on the quantum gates. Moreover, we employ quantum error correction codes for limiting the effects of quantum noise and for correcting quantum flips. More specifically, we demonstrate that, when we search for a single solution in a database having 4096 entries using Grover’s QSA at an aggressive depolarizing probability of 10−3, the success probability of the search is 0.22 when no quantum coding is used, which is improved to 0.96 when Steane’s quantum error correction code is employed. Finally, apart from Steane’s code, the employment of Quantum Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (QBCH) codes is also considered. PMID:27924865

Avoiding irreversible dynamics in quantum systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karasik, Raisa Iosifovna

2009-10-01

Devices that exploit laws of quantum physics offer revolutionary advances in computation and communication. However, building such devices presents an enormous challenge, since it would require technologies that go far beyond current capabilities. One of the main obstacles to building a quantum computer and devices needed for quantum communication is decoherence or noise that originates from the interaction between a quantum system and its environment, and which leads to the destruction of the fragile quantum information. Encoding into decoherence-free subspaces (DFS) provides an important strategy for combating decoherence effects in quantum systems and constitutes the focus of my dissertation. The theory of DFS relies on the existence of certain symmetries in the decoherence process, which allow some states of a quantum system to be completely decoupled from the environment and thus to experience no decoherence. In this thesis I describe various approaches to DFS that are developed in the current literature. Although the general idea behind various approaches to DFS is the same, I show that different mathematical definitions of DFS actually have different physical meaning. I provide a rigorous definition of DFS for every approach, explaining its physical meaning and relation to other definitions. I also examine the theory of DFS for Markovian systems. These are systems for which the environment has no memory, i.e., any change in the environment affects the quantum system instantaneously. Examples of such systems include many systems in quantum optics that have been proposed for implementation of a quantum computer, such as atomic and molecular gases, trapped ions, and quantum dots. Here I develop a rigorous theory that provides necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of DFS. This theory allows us to identify a special new class of DFS that was not known before. Under particular circumstances, dynamics of a quantum system can connive together with the interactions between the system and its environment in a special way to reduce decoherence. This property is used to discover new DFS that rely on rather counterintuitive phenomenon, which I call an "incoherent generation of coherences." I also provide examples of physical systems that support such states. These DFS can be used to suppress & coherence, but may not be sufficient for performing full quantum computation. I also explore the possibility of physically generating the DFS that are useful for quantum computation. For quantum computation we need to preserve at least two quantum states to encode the quantum analogue of classical bits. Here I aim to generate DFS in a system composed from a large collection of atoms or molecules and I need to determine how one should position atoms or molecules in 3D space so that the overall system possesses a DFS with at least two states (i.e., non-trivial DFS). I show that for many Markovian systems, non-trivial DFS can exist only when particles are located in exactly the same position in space. This, of course, is not possible in the real world. For these systems, I also show that states in DFS are states with infinite lifetime. However, for all practical applications we just need long-lived states. Thus in reality, we do just need to bring quantum particles close together to generate an imperfect DFS, i.e. a collection of long-lived states. This can be achieved, for example, for atoms within a single molecule.

Quantum computing with incoherent resources and quantum jumps.

PubMed

Santos, M F; Cunha, M Terra; Chaves, R; Carvalho, A R R

2012-04-27

Spontaneous emission and the inelastic scattering of photons are two natural processes usually associated with decoherence and the reduction in the capacity to process quantum information. Here we show that, when suitably detected, these photons are sufficient to build all the fundamental blocks needed to perform quantum computation in the emitting qubits while protecting them from deleterious dissipative effects. We exemplify this by showing how to efficiently prepare graph states for the implementation of measurement-based quantum computation.

Quantum Private Query Based on Bell State and Single Photons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Xiang; Chang, Yan; Zhang, Shi-Bin; Yang, Fan; Zhang, Yan

2018-03-01

Quantum private query (QPQ) can protect both user's and database holder's privacy. In this paper, we propose a novel quantum private query protocol based on Bell state and single photons. As far as we know, no one has ever proposed the QPQ based on Bell state. By using the decoherence-free (DF) states, our protocol can resist the collective noise. Besides that, our protocol is a one-way quantum protocol, which can resist the Trojan horse attack and reduce the communication complexity. Our protocol can not only guarantee the participants' privacy but also stand against an external eavesdropper.

Hybrid quantum systems with trapped charged particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotler, Shlomi; Simmonds, Raymond W.; Leibfried, Dietrich; Wineland, David J.

2017-02-01

Trapped charged particles have been at the forefront of quantum information processing (QIP) for a few decades now, with deterministic two-qubit logic gates reaching record fidelities of 99.9 % and single-qubit operations of much higher fidelity. In a hybrid system involving trapped charges, quantum degrees of freedom of macroscopic objects such as bulk acoustic resonators, superconducting circuits, or nanomechanical membranes, couple to the trapped charges and ideally inherit the coherent properties of the charges. The hybrid system therefore implements a "quantum transducer," where the quantum reality (i.e., superpositions and entanglement) of small objects is extended to include the larger object. Although a hybrid quantum system with trapped charges could be valuable both for fundamental research and for QIP applications, no such system exists today. Here we study theoretically the possibilities of coupling the quantum-mechanical motion of a trapped charged particle (e.g., an ion or electron) to the quantum degrees of freedom of superconducting devices, nanomechanical resonators, and quartz bulk acoustic wave resonators. For each case, we estimate the coupling rate between the charged particle and its macroscopic counterpart and compare it to the decoherence rate, i.e., the rate at which quantum superposition decays. A hybrid system can only be considered quantum if the coupling rate significantly exceeds all decoherence rates. Our approach is to examine specific examples by using parameters that are experimentally attainable in the foreseeable future. We conclude that hybrid quantum systems involving a single atomic ion are unfavorable compared with the use of a single electron because the coupling rates between the ion and its counterpart are slower than the expected decoherence rates. A system based on trapped electrons, on the other hand, might have coupling rates that significantly exceed decoherence rates. Moreover, it might have appealing properties such as fast entangling gates, long coherence, and flexible topology that is fully electronic in nature. Realizing such a system, however, is technologically challenging because it requires accommodating both a trapping technology and superconducting circuitry in a compatible manner. We review some of the challenges involved, such as the required trap parameters, electron sources, electrical circuitry, and cooling schemes in order to promote further investigations towards the realization of such a hybrid system.

Simulations of 'decoherence' with noise pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stodolsky, L.

A simulation of decoherence as random noise in the Hamiltonian is studied. The full Hamiltonian for the rf Squid is used, with the parameters chosen such that there is a double-potential well configuration where the two quasi-degenerate lowest levels are well separated from the rest. The results for these first two levels are in quantitative agreement with expectations from the 'spin 1/2' picture for the behaviour of a two-state system.

Bang-bang control of a qubit coupled to a quantum critical spin bath

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossini, D.; Facchi, P.; Fazio, R.; Florio, G.; Lidar, D. A.; Pascazio, S.; Plastina, F.; Zanardi, P.

2008-05-01

We analytically and numerically study the effects of pulsed control on the decoherence of a qubit coupled to a quantum spin bath. When the environment is critical, decoherence is faster and we show that the control is relatively more effective. Two coupling models are investigated, namely, a qubit coupled to a bath via a single link and a spin-star model, yielding results that are similar and consistent.

Extending Bell's beables to encompass dissipation, decoherence, and the quantum-to-classical transition through quantum trajectories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lorenzen, F.; de Ponte, M. A.; Moussa, M. H. Y.

2009-09-01

In this paper, employing the Itô stochastic Schrödinger equation, we extend Bell’s beable interpretation of quantum mechanics to encompass dissipation, decoherence, and the quantum-to-classical transition through quantum trajectories. For a particular choice of the source of stochasticity, the one leading to a dissipative Lindblad-type correction to the Hamiltonian dynamics, we find that the diffusive terms in Nelsons stochastic trajectories are naturally incorporated into Bohm’s causal dynamics, yielding a unified Bohm-Nelson theory. In particular, by analyzing the interference between quantum trajectories, we clearly identify the decoherence time, as estimated from the quantum formalism. We also observe the quantum-to-classical transition in the convergence of the infinite ensemble of quantum trajectories to their classical counterparts. Finally, we show that our extended beables circumvent the problems in Bohm’s causal dynamics regarding stationary states in quantum mechanics.

Flux qubits in a planar circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture: Quantum control and decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orgiazzi, J.-L.; Deng, C.; Layden, D.; Marchildon, R.; Kitapli, F.; Shen, F.; Bal, M.; Ong, F. R.; Lupascu, A.

2016-03-01

We report experiments on superconducting flux qubits in a circuit quantum electrodynamics (cQED) setup. Two qubits, independently biased and controlled, are coupled to a coplanar waveguide resonator. Dispersive qubit state readout reaches a maximum contrast of 72%. We measure energy relaxation times at the symmetry point of 5 and 10 μ s , corresponding to 7 and 20 μ s when relaxation through the resonator due to Purcell effect is subtracted out, and levels of flux noise of 2.6 and 2.7 μ Φ0/√{Hz} at 1 Hz for the two qubits. We discuss the origin of decoherence in the measured devices. The strong coupling between the qubits and the cavity leads to a large, cavity-mediated, qubit-qubit coupling. This coupling, which is characterized spectroscopically, reaches 38 MHz. These results demonstrate the potential of cQED as a platform for fundamental investigations of decoherence and quantum dynamics of flux qubits.

Identifying decohering paths in closed quantum systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Albrecht, Andreas

1990-01-01

A specific proposal is discussed for how to identify decohering paths in a wavefunction of the universe. The emphasis is on determining the correlations among subsystems and then considering how these correlations evolve. The proposal is similar to earlier ideas of Schroedinger and of Zeh, but in other ways it is closer to the decoherence functional of Griffiths, Omnes, and Gell-Mann and Hartle. There are interesting differences with each of these which are discussed. Once a given coarse-graining is chosen, the candidate paths are fixed in this scheme, and a single well defined number measures the degree of decoherence for each path. The normal probability sum rules are exactly obeyed (instantaneously) by these paths regardless of the level of decoherence. Also briefly discussed is how one might quantify some other aspects of classicality. The important role that concrete calculations play in testing this and other proposals is stressed.

Optimization of Transmon Qubit Fabrication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Josephine; Rothwell, Mary; Keefe, George; IBM Quantum Computing Group Team

2013-03-01

Rapid advances in the field of superconducting transmon qubits have refined our understanding of the role that substrate and interfaces play in qubit decoherence. Here, we review strategies for enhancing coherence times in both 2D and 3D transmon qubits through substrate design, structural improvements, and process optimization. Results correlating processing techniques to decoherence times are presented, and some novel structures are proposed for further consideration. We acknowledge support from IARPA under contract W911NF-10-1-0324

Unifying decoherence and the Heisenberg Principle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Janssens, Bas

2017-08-01

We exhibit three inequalities involving quantum measurement, all of which are sharp and state independent. The first inequality bounds the performance of joint measurement. The second quantifies the trade-off between the measurement quality and the disturbance caused on the measured system. Finally, the third inequality provides a sharp lower bound on the amount of decoherence in terms of the measurement quality. This gives a unified description of both the Heisenberg uncertainty principle and the collapse of the wave function.

Augmented Ehrenfest dynamics yields a rate for surface hopping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subotnik, Joseph E.

2010-04-01

We present a new algorithm for mixed quantum-classical dynamics that helps bridge the gap between mean-field (Ehrenfest) and surface-hopping dynamics by defining a natural rate of decoherence. In order to derive this decoherence result, we have expanded the number of independent variables in the usual Ehrenfest routine so that mixed quantum-classical derivatives are now propagated in time alongside the usual Ehrenfest variables. Having done so, we compute a unique rate of decoherence using two independent approaches: (i) by comparing the equations of motion for the joint nuclear-electronic probability density in phase space according to Ehrenfest dynamics versus partial Wigner transform dynamics and (ii) by introducing a frozen Gaussian interpretation of Ehrenfest dynamics which allows nuclear wave packets to separate. The first consequence of this work is a means to rigorously check the accuracy of standard Ehrenfest dynamics. Second, this paper suggests a nonadiabatic dynamics algorithm, whereby the nuclei are propagated on the mean-field (Ehrenfest) potential energy surface and undergo stochastic decoherence events. Our work resembles the surface-hopping algorithm of Schwartz and co-workers [J. Chem. Phys. 123, 234106 (2005)]—only now without any adjustable parameters. For the case of two electronic states, we present numerical results on the so-called "Tully problems" and emphasize that future numerical benchmarking is still needed. Future work will also treat the problem of three or more electronic states.

Non-Markovianity hinders Quantum Darwinism.

PubMed

Galve, Fernando; Zambrini, Roberta; Maniscalco, Sabrina

2016-01-20

We investigate Quantum Darwinism and the emergence of a classical world from the quantum one in connection with the spectral properties of the environment. We use a microscopic model of quantum environment in which, by changing a simple system parameter, we can modify the information back flow from environment into the system, and therefore its non-Markovian character. We show that the presence of memory effects hinders the emergence of classical objective reality, linking these two apparently unrelated concepts via a unique dynamical feature related to decoherence factors.

Non-Markovianity hinders Quantum Darwinism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galve, Fernando; Zambrini, Roberta; Maniscalco, Sabrina

2016-01-01

We investigate Quantum Darwinism and the emergence of a classical world from the quantum one in connection with the spectral properties of the environment. We use a microscopic model of quantum environment in which, by changing a simple system parameter, we can modify the information back flow from environment into the system, and therefore its non-Markovian character. We show that the presence of memory effects hinders the emergence of classical objective reality, linking these two apparently unrelated concepts via a unique dynamical feature related to decoherence factors.

Non-Markovianity hinders Quantum Darwinism

PubMed Central

Galve, Fernando; Zambrini, Roberta; Maniscalco, Sabrina

2016-01-01

We investigate Quantum Darwinism and the emergence of a classical world from the quantum one in connection with the spectral properties of the environment. We use a microscopic model of quantum environment in which, by changing a simple system parameter, we can modify the information back flow from environment into the system, and therefore its non-Markovian character. We show that the presence of memory effects hinders the emergence of classical objective reality, linking these two apparently unrelated concepts via a unique dynamical feature related to decoherence factors. PMID:26786857

Experimental investigation of criteria for continuous variable entanglement.

PubMed

Bowen, W P; Schnabel, R; Lam, P K; Ralph, T C

2003-01-31

We generate a pair of entangled beams from the interference of two amplitude squeezed beams. The entanglement is quantified in terms of EPR paradox and inseparability criteria, with both results clearly beating the standard quantum limit. We experimentally analyze the effect of decoherence on each criterion and demonstrate qualitative differences. We also characterize the number of required and excess photons present in the entangled beams and provide contour plots of the efficacy of quantum information protocols in terms of these variables.

Dynamical Quantum Correlations of Ising Models on an Arbitrary Lattice and Their Resilience to Decoherence

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number . PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. a...Boulder The Regents of the University of Colorado Office of Contracts and Grants Boulder, CO 80309 -0572 REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE b. ABSTRACT UU c...THIS PAGE UU 2. REPORT TYPE New Reprint 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT UU 15. NUMBER OF PAGES 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT

Entanglement-assisted quantum convolutional coding

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wilde, Mark M.; Brun, Todd A.

2010-04-15

We show how to protect a stream of quantum information from decoherence induced by a noisy quantum communication channel. We exploit preshared entanglement and a convolutional coding structure to develop a theory of entanglement-assisted quantum convolutional coding. Our construction produces a Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) entanglement-assisted quantum convolutional code from two arbitrary classical binary convolutional codes. The rate and error-correcting properties of the classical convolutional codes directly determine the corresponding properties of the resulting entanglement-assisted quantum convolutional code. We explain how to encode our CSS entanglement-assisted quantum convolutional codes starting from a stream of information qubits, ancilla qubits, and shared entangled bits.

Towards a heralded eigenstate-preserving measurement of multi-qubit parity in circuit QED

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huembeli, Patrick; Nigg, Simon E.

2017-07-01

Eigenstate-preserving multi-qubit parity measurements lie at the heart of stabilizer quantum error correction, which is a promising approach to mitigate the problem of decoherence in quantum computers. In this work we explore a high-fidelity, eigenstate-preserving parity readout for superconducting qubits dispersively coupled to a microwave resonator, where the parity bit is encoded in the amplitude of a coherent state of the resonator. Detecting photons emitted by the resonator via a current biased Josephson junction yields information about the parity bit. We analyze theoretically the measurement back action in the limit of a strongly coupled fast detector and show that in general such a parity measurement, while approximately quantum nondemolition is not eigenstate preserving. To remediate this shortcoming we propose a simple dynamical decoupling technique during photon detection, which greatly reduces decoherence within a given parity subspace. Furthermore, by applying a sequence of fast displacement operations interleaved with the dynamical decoupling pulses, the natural bias of this binary detector can be efficiently suppressed. Finally, we introduce the concept of a heralded parity measurement, where a detector click guarantees successful multi-qubit parity detection even for finite detection efficiency.

Understanding and controlling spin-systems using electron spin resonance techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martens, Mathew

Single molecule magnets (SMMs) posses multi-level energy structures with properties that make them attractive candidates for implementation into quantum information technologies. However there are some major hurdles that need to be overcome if these systems are to be used as the fundamental components of an eventual quantum computer. One such hurdle is the relatively short coherence times these systems display which severely limits the amount of time quantum information can remain encoded within them. In this dissertation, recent experiments conducted with the intent of bringing this technology closer to realization are presented. The detailed knowledge of the spin Hamiltonian and mechanisms of decoherence in SMMs are absolutely essential if these systems are to be used in technologies. To that effect, experiments were done on a particularly promising SMM, the complex K6[VIV15AsIII 6O42(H2O)] · 8H2O, known as V15. High-field electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements were performed on this system at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. The resulting spectra allowed for detailed analysis of the V15 spin Hamiltonian which will be presented as well as the most precise values yet reported for the g-factors of this system. Additionally, the line widths of the ESR spectra are studied in depth and found to reveal that fluctuations within the spin-orbit interaction are a mechanism for decoherence in V15. A new model for decoherence is presented that describes very well both the temperature and field orientation dependences of the measured ESR line widths. Also essential is the ability to control spin-states of SMMs. Presented in this dissertation as well is the demonstration of the coherent manipulation of the multi-state spin system Mn2+ diluted in MgO by means of a two-tone pulse drive. Through the detuning between the excitation and readout radio frequency pulses it is possible to select the number of photons involved in a Rabi oscillation as well as increase the frequency of this nutation. Experimental findings fit well the analytical model developed. This process could lead to the use of multi-level spin systems as tunable solid state qubits. Finally, if quantum computing technologies are to be commercially realized, an on-chip method to address qubits must be developed. One way to incorporate SMMs to an on-chip device is by way of a coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonator. Efforts to create a resonator of this type to be used to perform low-temperature ESR on-chip will be described. Our work is focused on implementing such on-chip techniques in high magnetic fields, which is desirable for ESR-type of experiments in (quasi-)isotropic spin systems. Considerable attention is given to the coupling of these devices and a geometry is presented for a superconducting CPW resonator that is critically coupled. The effect of the magnetic field on the resonance position and its quality factor is addressed as well. Our devices show robust performance in field upwards of 1 Tesla and their use in performing on-chip ESR measurements seem promising.

Quantum decoherence in electronic current flowing through carbon nanotubes induced by thermal atomic vibrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishizeki, Keisuke; Sasaoka, Kenji; Konabe, Satoru; Souma, Satofumi; Yamamoto, Takahiro

2018-06-01

We theoretically investigate quantum decoherence in electronic currents flowing through metallic carbon nanotubes caused by thermal atomic vibrations using the time-dependent Schrödinger equation for an open system. We reveal that the quantum coherence of conduction electrons decays exponentially with tube length at a fixed temperature, and that the decay rate increases with temperature. We also find that the phase relaxation length due to the thermal atomic vibrations is inversely proportional to temperature.

Gauge-independent decoherence models for solids in external fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wismer, Michael S.; Yakovlev, Vladislav S.

2018-04-01

We demonstrate gauge-invariant modeling of an open system of electrons in a periodic potential interacting with an optical field. For this purpose, we adapt the covariant derivative to the case of mixed states and put forward a decoherence model that has simple analytical forms in the length and velocity gauges. We demonstrate our methods by calculating harmonic spectra in the strong-field regime and numerically verifying the equivalence of the deterministic master equation to the stochastic Monte Carlo wave-function method.

Complementarity of information and the emergence of the classical world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwolak, Michael; Zurek, Wojciech

2013-03-01

We prove an anti-symmetry property relating accessible information about a system through some auxiliary system F and the quantum discord with respect to a complementary system F'. In Quantum Darwinism, where fragments of the environment relay information to observers - this relation allows us to understand some fundamental properties regarding correlations between a quantum system and its environment. First, it relies on a natural separation of accessible information and quantum information about a system. Under decoherence, this separation shows that accessible information is maximized for the quasi-classical pointer observable. Other observables are accessible only via correlations with the pointer observable. Second, It shows that objective information becomes accessible to many observers only when quantum information is relegated to correlations with the global environment, and, therefore, locally inaccessible. The resulting complementarity explains why, in a quantum Universe, we perceive objective classical reality, and supports Bohr's intuition that quantum phenomena acquire classical reality only when communicated.

Generalized quantum theory of recollapsing homogeneous cosmologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Craig, David; Hartle, James B.

2004-06-01

A sum-over-histories generalized quantum theory is developed for homogeneous minisuperspace type A Bianchi cosmological models, focusing on the particular example of the classically recollapsing Bianchi type-IX universe. The decoherence functional for such universes is exhibited. We show how the probabilities of decoherent sets of alternative, coarse-grained histories of these model universes can be calculated. We consider in particular the probabilities for classical evolution defined by a suitable coarse graining. For a restricted class of initial conditions and coarse grainings we exhibit the approximate decoherence of alternative histories in which the universe behaves classically and those in which it does not. For these situations we show that the probability is near unity for the universe to recontract classically if it expands classically. We also determine the relative probabilities of quasiclassical trajectories for initial states of WKB form, recovering for such states a precise form of the familiar heuristic “JṡdΣ” rule of quantum cosmology, as well as a generalization of this rule to generic initial states.

Preservation of a lower bound of quantum secret key rate in the presence of decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Datta, Shounak; Goswami, Suchetana; Pramanik, Tanumoy; Majumdar, A. S.

2017-03-01

It is well known that the interaction of quantum systems with the environment reduces the inherent quantum correlations. Under special circumstances the effect of decoherence can be reversed, for example, the interaction modelled by an amplitude damping channel can boost the teleportation fidelity from the classical to the quantum region for a bipartite quantum state. Here, we first show that this phenomenon fails to preserve the quantum secret key rate derived under individual attack. We further show that the technique of weak measurement can be used to slow down the process of decoherence, thereby helping to preserve the quantum secret key rate when one or both systems are interacting with the environment via an amplitude damping channel. Most interestingly, in certain cases weak measurement with post-selection where one considers both success and failure of the technique is shown to be more useful than without it when both systems interact with the environment.

Coherence penalty functional: A simple method for adding decoherence in Ehrenfest dynamics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akimov, Alexey V., E-mail: alexvakimov@gmail.com, E-mail: oleg.prezhdo@rochester.edu; Chemistry Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973; Long, Run

2014-05-21

We present a new semiclassical approach for description of decoherence in electronically non-adiabatic molecular dynamics. The method is formulated on the grounds of the Ehrenfest dynamics and the Meyer-Miller-Thoss-Stock mapping of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation onto a fully classical Hamiltonian representation. We introduce a coherence penalty functional (CPF) that accounts for decoherence effects by randomizing the wavefunction phase and penalizing development of coherences in regions of strong non-adiabatic coupling. The performance of the method is demonstrated with several model and realistic systems. Compared to other semiclassical methods tested, the CPF method eliminates artificial interference and improves agreement with the fullymore » quantum calculations on the models. When applied to study electron transfer dynamics in the nanoscale systems, the method shows an improved accuracy of the predicted time scales. The simplicity and high computational efficiency of the CPF approach make it a perfect practical candidate for applications in realistic systems.« less

Uncertainty relation in Schwarzschild spacetime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Jun; Zhang, Yao-Zhong; Gould, Mark D.; Fan, Heng

2015-04-01

We explore the entropic uncertainty relation in the curved background outside a Schwarzschild black hole, and find that Hawking radiation introduces a nontrivial modification on the uncertainty bound for particular observer, therefore it could be witnessed by proper uncertainty game experimentally. We first investigate an uncertainty game between a free falling observer and his static partner holding a quantum memory initially entangled with the quantum system to be measured. Due to the information loss from Hawking decoherence, we find an inevitable increase of the uncertainty on the outcome of measurements in the view of static observer, which is dependent on the mass of the black hole, the distance of observer from event horizon, and the mode frequency of quantum memory. To illustrate the generality of this paradigm, we relate the entropic uncertainty bound with other uncertainty probe, e.g., time-energy uncertainty. In an alternative game between two static players, we show that quantum information of qubit can be transferred to quantum memory through a bath of fluctuating quantum fields outside the black hole. For a particular choice of initial state, we show that the Hawking decoherence cannot counteract entanglement generation after the dynamical evolution of system, which triggers an effectively reduced uncertainty bound that violates the intrinsic limit -log2 ⁡ c. Numerically estimation for a proper choice of initial state shows that our result is comparable with possible real experiments. Finally, a discussion on the black hole firewall paradox in the context of entropic uncertainty relation is given.

Canonical form of master equations and characterization of non-Markovianity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, Michael J. W.; Cresser, James D.; Li, Li; Andersson, Erika

2014-04-01

Master equations govern the time evolution of a quantum system interacting with an environment, and may be written in a variety of forms. Time-independent or memoryless master equations, in particular, can be cast in the well-known Lindblad form. Any time-local master equation, Markovian or non-Markovian, may in fact also be written in a Lindblad-like form. A diagonalization procedure results in a unique, and in this sense canonical, representation of the equation, which may be used to fully characterize the non-Markovianity of the time evolution. Recently, several different measures of non-Markovianity have been presented which reflect, to varying degrees, the appearance of negative decoherence rates in the Lindblad-like form of the master equation. We therefore propose using the negative decoherence rates themselves, as they appear in the canonical form of the master equation, to completely characterize non-Markovianity. The advantages of this are especially apparent when more than one decoherence channel is present. We show that a measure proposed by Rivas et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 050403 (2010), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.050403] is a surprisingly simple function of the canonical decoherence rates, and give an example of a master equation that is non-Markovian for all times t >0, but to which nearly all proposed measures are blind. We also give necessary and sufficient conditions for trace distance and volume measures to witness non-Markovianity, in terms of the Bloch damping matrix.

Quantum theory of the classical: quantum jumps, Born's Rule and objective classical reality via quantum Darwinism.

PubMed

Zurek, Wojciech Hubert

2018-07-13

The emergence of the classical world from the quantum substrate of our Universe is a long-standing conundrum. In this paper, I describe three insights into the transition from quantum to classical that are based on the recognition of the role of the environment. I begin with the derivation of preferred sets of states that help to define what exists-our everyday classical reality. They emerge as a result of the breaking of the unitary symmetry of the Hilbert space which happens when the unitarity of quantum evolutions encounters nonlinearities inherent in the process of amplification-of replicating information. This derivation is accomplished without the usual tools of decoherence, and accounts for the appearance of quantum jumps and the emergence of preferred pointer states consistent with those obtained via environment-induced superselection, or einselection The pointer states obtained in this way determine what can happen-define events-without appealing to Born's Rule for probabilities. Therefore, p k =| ψ k | 2 can now be deduced from the entanglement-assisted invariance, or envariance -a symmetry of entangled quantum states. With probabilities at hand, one also gains new insights into the foundations of quantum statistical physics. Moreover, one can now analyse the information flows responsible for decoherence. These information flows explain how the perception of objective classical reality arises from the quantum substrate: the effective amplification that they represent accounts for the objective existence of the einselected states of macroscopic quantum systems through the redundancy of pointer state records in their environment-through quantum Darwinism This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Foundations of quantum mechanics and their impact on contemporary society'. © 2018 The Author(s).

Redundant imprinting of information in non-ideal environments: Quantum Darwinism via a noisy channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwolak, Michael; Quan, Haitao; Zurek, Wojciech

2011-03-01

Quantum Darwinism provides an information-theoretic framework for the emergence of the classical world from the quantum substrate. It recognizes that we - the observers - acquire our information about the ``systems of interest'' indirectly from their imprints on the environment. Objectivity, a key property of the classical world, arises via the proliferation of redundant information into the environment where many observers can then intercept it and independently determine the state of the system. While causing a system to decohere, environments that remain nearly invariant under the Hamiltonian dynamics, such as very mixed states, have a diminished ability to transmit information about the system, yet can still acquire redundant information about the system [1,2]. Our results show that Quantum Darwinism is robust with respect to non-ideal initial states of the environment. This research is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through the LANL/LDRD Program.

PT -symmetric slowing down of decoherence

DOE PAGES

Gardas, Bartlomiej; Deffner, Sebastian; Saxena, Avadh Behari

2016-10-27

Here, we invesmore » tigate PT -symmetric quantum systems ultraweakly coupled to an environment. We find that such open systems evolve under PT -symmetric, purely dephasing and unital dynamics. The dynamical map describing the evolution is then determined explicitly using a quantum canonical transformation. Furthermore, we provide an explanation of why PT -symmetric dephasing-type interactions lead to a critical slowing down of decoherence. This effect is further exemplified with an experimentally relevant system, a PT -symmetric qubit easily realizable, e.g., in optical or microcavity experiments.« less

PT -symmetric slowing down of decoherence

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gardas, Bartlomiej; Deffner, Sebastian; Saxena, Avadh Behari

Here, we invesmore » tigate PT -symmetric quantum systems ultraweakly coupled to an environment. We find that such open systems evolve under PT -symmetric, purely dephasing and unital dynamics. The dynamical map describing the evolution is then determined explicitly using a quantum canonical transformation. Furthermore, we provide an explanation of why PT -symmetric dephasing-type interactions lead to a critical slowing down of decoherence. This effect is further exemplified with an experimentally relevant system, a PT -symmetric qubit easily realizable, e.g., in optical or microcavity experiments.« less

Beam motions near separatrix

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

M. Ball et al.

1999-05-04

Experimental data on particle motion near the separatrix of the one dimensional (1-D) fourth-integer islands are an-alyzed. When the beam bunch is initially kicked to the separatrix orbit, we observed a strong decoherence in the coherent betatron motion. We find that, through intensive particle tracking simulation analysis, the decoherence has resulted from the beam being split into beamlets in the beta-tron phase space. However, we also observe an unexpected recoherence of coherence signal, which may result form a modulated closed orbit or the homoclinic structure near the separatrix.

Quantum digital-to-analog conversion algorithm using decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

SaiToh, Akira

2015-08-01

We consider the problem of mapping digital data encoded on a quantum register to analog amplitudes in parallel. It is shown to be unlikely that a fully unitary polynomial-time quantum algorithm exists for this problem; NP becomes a subset of BQP if it exists. In the practical point of view, we propose a nonunitary linear-time algorithm using quantum decoherence. It tacitly uses an exponentially large physical resource, which is typically a huge number of identical molecules. Quantumness of correlation appearing in the process of the algorithm is also discussed.

Decoherence of spin states induced by Rashba coupling for an electron confined to a semiconductor quantum dot in the presence of a magnetic field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poszwa, A.

2018-05-01

We investigate quantum decoherence of spin states caused by Rashba spin-orbit (SO) coupling for an electron confined to a planar quantum dot (QD) in the presence of a magnetic field (B). The Schrödinger equation has been solved in a frame of second-order perturbation theory. The relationship between the von Neumann (vN) entropy and the spin polarization is obtained. The relation is explicitly demonstrated for the InSb semiconductor QD.

Electron-phonon interaction in quantum transport through quantum dots and molecular systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ojeda, J. H.; Duque, C. A.; Laroze, D.

2016-12-01

The quantum transport and effects of decoherence properties are studied in quantum dots systems and finite homogeneous chains of aromatic molecules connected to two semi-infinite leads. We study these systems based on the tight-binding approach through Green's function technique within a real space renormalization and polaron transformation schemes. In particular, we calculate the transmission probability following the Landauer-Büttiker formalism, the I - V characteristics and the noise power of current fluctuations taken into account the decoherence. Our results may explain the inelastic effects through nanoscopic systems.

Scheme for Quantum Computing Immune to Decoherence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, Colin; Vatan, Farrokh

2008-01-01

A constructive scheme has been devised to enable mapping of any quantum computation into a spintronic circuit in which the computation is encoded in a basis that is, in principle, immune to quantum decoherence. The scheme is implemented by an algorithm that utilizes multiple physical spins to encode each logical bit in such a way that collective errors affecting all the physical spins do not disturb the logical bit. The scheme is expected to be of use to experimenters working on spintronic implementations of quantum logic. Spintronic computing devices use quantum-mechanical spins (typically, electron spins) to encode logical bits. Bits thus encoded (denoted qubits) are potentially susceptible to errors caused by noise and decoherence. The traditional model of quantum computation is based partly on the assumption that each qubit is implemented by use of a single two-state quantum system, such as an electron or other spin-1.2 particle. It can be surprisingly difficult to achieve certain gate operations . most notably, those of arbitrary 1-qubit gates . in spintronic hardware according to this model. However, ironically, certain 2-qubit interactions (in particular, spin-spin exchange interactions) can be achieved relatively easily in spintronic hardware. Therefore, it would be fortunate if it were possible to implement any 1-qubit gate by use of a spin-spin exchange interaction. While such a direct representation is not possible, it is possible to achieve an arbitrary 1-qubit gate indirectly by means of a sequence of four spin-spin exchange interactions, which could be implemented by use of four exchange gates. Accordingly, the present scheme provides for mapping any 1-qubit gate in the logical basis into an equivalent sequence of at most four spin-spin exchange interactions in the physical (encoded) basis. The complexity of the mathematical derivation of the scheme from basic quantum principles precludes a description within this article; it must suffice to report that the derivation provides explicit constructions for finding the exchange couplings in the physical basis needed to implement any arbitrary 1-qubit gate. These constructions lead to spintronic encodings of quantum logic that are more efficient than those of a previously published scheme that utilizes a universal but fixed set of gates.

Fast generation of three-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state based on the Lewis-Riesenfeld invariants in coupled cavities.

PubMed

Huang, Xiao-Bin; Chen, Ye-Hong; Wang, Zhe

2016-05-24

In this paper, we propose an efficient scheme to fast generate three-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state by constructing shortcuts to adiabatic passage (STAP) based on the "Lewis-Riesenfeld (LR) invariants" in spatially separated cavities connected by optical fibers. Numerical simulations illustrate that the scheme is not only fast, but robust against the decoherence caused by atomic spontaneous emission, cavity losses and the fiber photon leakages. This might be useful to realize fast and noise-resistant quantum information processing for multi-qubit systems.

Effect of electric field on RbCl quantum pseudodot qubit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Zhi-Hui; Xiao, Jing-Lin

2018-04-01

By employing the variational method of Pekar type, we study the effects of electric field on RbCl quantum pseudodot (QPD) qubits. Our results confirm that (1) the electron oscillates in the RbCl QPD with a certain period; (2) the electron's probability density is a raising function of electric field; (3) the oscillating frequency is an increasing one of the electric field and the two-dimensional electron gas chemical potential. Two ways are found for prolonging the lifetime of the qubit and suppressing the decoherence in the quantum information field.

Evolution equation for quantum entanglement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konrad, Thomas; de Melo, Fernando; Tiersch, Markus; Kasztelan, Christian; Aragão, Adriano; Buchleitner, Andreas

2008-02-01

Quantum information technology largely relies on a precious and fragile resource, quantum entanglement, a highly non-trivial manifestation of the coherent superposition of states of composite quantum systems. However, our knowledge of the time evolution of this resource under realistic conditions-that is, when corrupted by environment-induced decoherence-is so far limited, and general statements on entanglement dynamics in open systems are scarce. Here we prove a simple and general factorization law for quantum systems shared by two parties, which describes the time evolution of entanglement on passage of either component through an arbitrary noisy channel. The robustness of entanglement-based quantum information processing protocols is thus easily and fully characterized by a single quantity.

Quantum darwinism in a mixed environment.

PubMed

Zwolak, Michael; Quan, H T; Zurek, Wojciech H

2009-09-11

Quantum Darwinism recognizes that we-the observers-acquire our information about the "systems of interest" indirectly from their imprints on the environment. Here, we show that information about a system can be acquired from a mixed-state, or hazy, environment, but the storage capacity of an environment fragment is suppressed by its initial entropy. In the case of good decoherence, the mutual information between the system and the fragment is given solely by the fragment's entropy increase. For fairly mixed environments, this means a reduction by a factor 1-h, where h is the haziness of the environment, i.e., the initial entropy of an environment qubit. Thus, even such hazy environments eventually reveal the state of the system, although now the intercepted environment fragment must be larger by approximately (1-h)(-1) to gain the same information about the system.

Quantum Darwinism in a Mixed Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwolak, Michael; Quan, H. T.; Zurek, Wojciech H.

2009-09-01

Quantum Darwinism recognizes that we—the observers—acquire our information about the “systems of interest” indirectly from their imprints on the environment. Here, we show that information about a system can be acquired from a mixed-state, or hazy, environment, but the storage capacity of an environment fragment is suppressed by its initial entropy. In the case of good decoherence, the mutual information between the system and the fragment is given solely by the fragment’s entropy increase. For fairly mixed environments, this means a reduction by a factor 1-h, where h is the haziness of the environment, i.e., the initial entropy of an environment qubit. Thus, even such hazy environments eventually reveal the state of the system, although now the intercepted environment fragment must be larger by ˜(1-h)-1 to gain the same information about the system.

Quantum to classical transition in quantum field theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lombardo, Fernando C.

1998-12-01

We study the quatum to classical transition process in the context of quantum field theory. Extending the influence functional formalism of Feynman and Vernon, we study the decoherence process for self-interacting quantum fields in flat space. We also use this formalism for arbitrary geometries to analyze the quantum to classical transition in quantum gravity. After summarizing the main results known for the quantum Brownian motion, we consider a self-interacting field theory in Minkowski spacetime. We compute a coarse grained effective action by integrating out the field modes with wavelength shorter than a critical value. From this effective action we obtain the evolution equation for the reduced density matrix (master equation). We compute the diffusion coefficients for this equation and analyze the decoherence induced on the long-wavelength modes. We generalize the results to the case of a conformally coupled scalar field in de Sitter spacetime. We show that the decoherence is effective as long as the critical wavelength is taken to be not shorter than the Hubble radius. On the other hand, we study the classical limit for scalar-tensorial models in two dimensions. We consider different couplings between the dilaton and the scalar field. We discuss the Hawking radiation process and, from an exact evaluation of the influence functional, we study the conditions by which decoherence ensures the validity of the semiclassical approximation in cosmological metrics. Finally we consider four dimensional models with massive scalar fields, arbitrary coupled to the geometry. We compute the Einstein-Langevin equations in order to study the effect of the fluctuations induced by the quantum fields on the classical geometry.

The Measurement Problem: Decoherence and Convivial Solipsism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwirn, Hervé

2016-06-01

The problem of measurement is often considered an inconsistency inside the quantum formalism. Many attempts to solve (or to dissolve) it have been made since the inception of quantum mechanics. The form of these attempts depends on the philosophical position that their authors endorse. I will review some of them and analyze their relevance. The phenomenon of decoherence is often presented as a solution lying inside the pure quantum formalism and not demanding any particular philosophical assumption. Nevertheless, a widely debated question is to decide between two different interpretations. The first one is to consider that the decoherence process has the effect to actually project a superposed state into one of its classically interpretable component, hence doing the same job as the reduction postulate. For the second one, decoherence is only a way to show why no macroscopic superposed state can be observed, so explaining the classical appearance of the macroscopic world, while the quantum entanglement between the system, the apparatus and the environment never disappears. In this case, explaining why only one single definite outcome is observed remains to do. In this paper, I examine the arguments that have been given for and against both interpretations and defend a new position, the "Convivial Solipsism", according to which the outcome that is observed is relative to the observer, different but in close parallel to the Everett's interpretation and sharing also some similarities with Rovelli's relational interpretation and Quantum Bayesianism. I also show how "Convivial Solipsism" can help getting a new standpoint about the EPR paradox providing a way out of the seemingly unavoidable non-locality of quantum mechanics.

Decoherence in Neutrino Propagation Through Matter, and Bounds from IceCube/DeepCore

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Coloma, Pilar; Lopez-Pavon, Jacobo; Martinez-Soler, Ivan

We revisit neutrino oscillations in matter considering the open quantum system framework which allows to introduce possible decoherence effects generated by New Physics in a phenomenological manner. We assume that the decoherence parametersmore » $$\\gamma_{ij}$$ may depend on the neutrino energy, as $$\\gamma_{ij}=\\gamma_{ij}^{0}(E/\\text{GeV})^n$$ $$(n = 0,\\pm1,\\pm2) $$. The case of non-uniform matter is studied in detail, both within the adiabatic approximation and in the more general non-adiabatic case. In particular, we develop a consistent formalism to study the non-adiabatic case dividing the matter profile into an arbitrary number of layers of constant densities. This formalism is then applied to explore the sensitivity of IceCube and DeepCore to this type of effects. Our study is the first atmospheric neutrino analysis where a consistent treatment of the matter effects in the three-neutrino case is performed in presence of decoherence. We show that matter effects are indeed extremely relevant in this context. We find that IceCube is able to considerably improve over current bounds in the solar sector ($$\\gamma_{21}$$) and in the atmospheric sector ($$\\gamma_{31}$$ and $$\\gamma_{32}$$) for $n=0,1,2$ and, in particular, by several orders of magnitude (between 3 and 9) for the $n=1,2$ cases. For $n=0$ we find $$\\gamma_{32},\\gamma_{31}< 4.0\\cdot10^{-24} (1.3\\cdot10^{-24})$$ GeV and $$\\gamma_{21}<1.3\\cdot10^{-24} (4.1\\cdot10^{-24})$$ GeV, for normal (inverted) mass ordering.« less

Amplification, Redundancy, and Quantum Chernoff Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwolak, Michael; Riedel, C. Jess; Zurek, Wojciech H.

2014-04-01

Amplification was regarded, since the early days of quantum theory, as a mysterious ingredient that endows quantum microstates with macroscopic consequences, key to the "collapse of the wave packet," and a way to avoid embarrassing problems exemplified by Schrödinger's cat. Such a bridge between the quantum microworld and the classical world of our experience was postulated ad hoc in the Copenhagen interpretation. Quantum Darwinism views amplification as replication, in many copies, of the information about quantum states. We show that such amplification is a natural consequence of a broad class of models of decoherence, including the photon environment we use to obtain most of our information. This leads to objective reality via the presence of robust and widely accessible records of selected quantum states. The resulting redundancy (the number of copies deposited in the environment) follows from the quantum Chernoff information that quantifies the information transmitted by a typical elementary subsystem of the environment.

Hybrid quantum-classical hierarchy for mitigation of decoherence and determination of excited states

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McClean, Jarrod R.; Kimchi-Schwartz, Mollie E.; Carter, Jonathan

Using quantum devices supported by classical computational resources is a promising approach to quantum-enabled computation. One powerful example of such a hybrid quantum-classical approach optimized for classically intractable eigenvalue problems is the variational quantum eigensolver, built to utilize quantum resources for the solution of eigenvalue problems and optimizations with minimal coherence time requirements by leveraging classical computational resources. These algorithms have been placed as leaders among the candidates for the first to achieve supremacy over classical computation. Here, we provide evidence for the conjecture that variational approaches can automatically suppress even nonsystematic decoherence errors by introducing an exactly solvable channelmore » model of variational state preparation. Moreover, we develop a more general hierarchy of measurement and classical computation that allows one to obtain increasingly accurate solutions by leveraging additional measurements and classical resources. In conclusion, we demonstrate numerically on a sample electronic system that this method both allows for the accurate determination of excited electronic states as well as reduces the impact of decoherence, without using any additional quantum coherence time or formal error-correction codes.« less

Collective neutrino oscillations and neutrino wave packets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Akhmedov, Evgeny; Lindner, Manfred; Kopp, Joachim, E-mail: akhmedov@mpi-hd.mpg.de, E-mail: jkopp@uni-mainz.de, E-mail: lindner@mpi-hd.mpg.de

Effects of decoherence by wave packet separation on collective neutrino oscillations in dense neutrino gases are considered. We estimate the length of the wave packets of neutrinos produced in core collapse supernovae and the expected neutrino coherence length, and then proceed to consider the decoherence effects within the density matrix formalism of neutrino flavour transitions. First, we demonstrate that for neutrino oscillations in vacuum the decoherence effects are described by a damping term in the equation of motion of the density matrix of a neutrino as a whole (as contrasted to that of the fixed-momentum components of the neutrino densitymore » matrix). Next, we consider neutrino oscillations in ordinary matter and dense neutrino backgrounds, both in the adiabatic and non-adiabatic regimes. In the latter case we study two specific models of adiabaticity violation—one with short-term and another with extended non-adiabaticity. It is demonstrated that, while in the adiabatic case a damping term is present in the equation of motion of the neutrino density matrix (just like in the vacuum oscillation case), no such term in general appears in the non-adiabatic regime.« less

Experimental entanglement purification of arbitrary unknown states.

PubMed

Pan, Jian-Wei; Gasparoni, Sara; Ursin, Rupert; Weihs, Gregor; Zeilinger, Anton

2003-05-22

Distribution of entangled states between distant locations is essential for quantum communication over large distances. But owing to unavoidable decoherence in the quantum communication channel, the quality of entangled states generally decreases exponentially with the channel length. Entanglement purification--a way to extract a subset of states of high entanglement and high purity from a large set of less entangled states--is thus needed to overcome decoherence. Besides its important application in quantum communication, entanglement purification also plays a crucial role in error correction for quantum computation, because it can significantly increase the quality of logic operations between different qubits. Here we demonstrate entanglement purification for general mixed states of polarization-entangled photons using only linear optics. Typically, one photon pair of fidelity 92% could be obtained from two pairs, each of fidelity 75%. In our experiments, decoherence is overcome to the extent that the technique would achieve tolerable error rates for quantum repeaters in long-distance quantum communication. Our results also imply that the requirement of high-accuracy logic operations in fault-tolerant quantum computation can be considerably relaxed.

Mechanisms of decoherence in electron microscopy.

PubMed

Howie, A

2011-06-01

The understanding and where possible the minimisation of decoherence mechanisms in electron microscopy were first studied in plasmon loss, diffraction contrast images but are of even more acute relevance in high resolution TEM phase contrast imaging and electron holography. With the development of phase retrieval techniques they merit further attention particularly when their effect cannot be eliminated by currently available energy filters. The roles of electronic excitation, thermal diffuse scattering, transition radiation and bremsstrahlung are examined here not only in the specimen but also in the electron optical column. Terahertz-range aloof beam electronic excitation appears to account satisfactorily for recent observations of decoherence in electron holography. An apparent low frequency divergence can emerge for the calculated classical bremsstrahlung event probability but can be ignored for photon wavelengths exceeding the required coherence distance or path lengths in the equipment. Most bremsstrahlung event probabilities are negligibly important except possibly in large-angle bending magnets or mandolin systems. A more reliable procedure for subtracting thermal diffuse scattering from diffraction pattern intensities is proposed. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Decoherence and lead-induced interdot coupling in nonequilibrium electron transport through interacting quantum dots: A hierarchical quantum master equation approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Härtle, R.; Cohen, G.; Reichman, D. R.; Millis, A. J.

2013-12-01

The interplay between interference effects and electron-electron interactions in electron transport through an interacting double quantum dot system is investigated using a hierarchical quantum master equation approach which becomes exact if carried to infinite order and converges well if the temperature is not too low. Decoherence due to electron-electron interactions is found to give rise to pronounced negative differential resistance, enhanced broadening of structures in current-voltage characteristics, and an inversion of the electronic population. Dependence on gate voltage is shown to be a useful method of distinguishing decoherence-induced phenomena from effects induced by other mechanisms such as the presence of a blocking state. Comparison of results obtained by the hierarchical quantum master equation approach to those obtained from the Born-Markov approximation to the Nakajima-Zwanzig equation and from the noncrossing approximation to the nonequilibrium Green's function reveals the importance of an interdot coupling that originates from the energy dependence of the conduction bands in the leads and the need for a systematic perturbative expansion.

Role of initial coherence on entanglement dynamics of two qubit X states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

V, Namitha C.; Satyanarayana, S. V. M.

2018-02-01

Bipartite entanglement is a necessary resource in most processes in quantum information science. Decoherence resulting from the interaction of the bipartite system with environment not only degrades the entanglement, but can result in abrupt disentanglement, known as entanglement sudden death (ESD). In some cases, a subsequent revival of entanglement is also possible. ESD is an undesirable feature for the state to be used as a resource in applications. In order to delay or avoid ESD, it is necessary to understand its origin. In this work we investigate the role of initial coherence on entanglement dynamics of a spatially separated two qubit system in a common vacuum reservoir with dipolar interaction. We construct two classes of X states, namely, states with one photon coherence (X 1) and states with two photon coherence (X 2). Considering them as initial states, we study entanglement dynamics under Markov approximation. We find for states in X 1, ESD time, revival time and time over which the state remains disentangled increase with increase in coherence. On the other hand for states in X 2, with increase in coherence ESD time increases, revival time remains same and time of disentanglement decreases. Thus, states with two photon coherence are better resources for applications since their entanglement is robust against decoherence compared to states with one photon coherence.

The Tacit 'Quantum' of Meeting the Aesthetic Sign; Contextualize, Entangle, Superpose, Collapse or Decohere.

PubMed

Broekaert, Jan

2018-01-01

The semantically ambiguous nature of the sign and aspects of non-classicality of elementary matter as described by quantum theory show remarkable coherent analogy. We focus on how the ambiguous nature of the image, text and art work bears functional resemblance to the dynamics of contextuality , entanglement , superposition , collapse and decoherence as these phenomena are known in quantum theory. These quantumlike properties in linguistic signs have previously been identified in formal descritions of e.g. concept combinations and mental lexicon representations and have been reported on in the literature. In this approach the informationalized, communicated, mediatized conceptual configuration-of e.g. the art work-in the personal reflected mind behaves like a quantum state function in a higher dimensional complex space, in which it is time and again contextually collapsed and further cognitively entangled (Aerts et al. in Found Sci 4:115-132, 1999; in Lect Notes Comput Sci 7620:36-47, 2012). The observer-consumer of signs becomes the empowered 'produmer' (Floridi in The philosophy of information, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011) creating the cognitive outcome of the interaction, while loosing most of any 'classical givenness' of the sign (Bal and Bryson in Art Bull 73:174-208, 1991). These quantum-like descriptions are now developed here in four example aesthetic signs; the installation Mist room by Ann Veronica Janssens (2010), the installation Sections of a happy moment by David Claerbout (2010), the photograph The Falling Man by Richard Drew (New York Times, p. 7, September 12, 2001) and the documentary Huicholes. The Last Peyote Guardians by Vilchez and Stefani (2014). Our present work develops further the use of a previously developed quantum model for concept representation in natural language. In our present approach of the aesthetic sign, we extend to individual -idiosyncratic-observer contexts instead of socially shared group contexts, and as such also include multiple idiosyncratic creation of meaning and experience. This irreducible superposition emerges as the core feature of the aesthetic sign and is most critically embedded in the 'no-interpretation' interpretation of the documentary signal.

Experimental realization of Shor's quantum factoring algorithm using nuclear magnetic resonance.

PubMed

Vandersypen, L M; Steffen, M; Breyta, G; Yannoni, C S; Sherwood, M H; Chuang, I L

The number of steps any classical computer requires in order to find the prime factors of an l-digit integer N increases exponentially with l, at least using algorithms known at present. Factoring large integers is therefore conjectured to be intractable classically, an observation underlying the security of widely used cryptographic codes. Quantum computers, however, could factor integers in only polynomial time, using Shor's quantum factoring algorithm. Although important for the study of quantum computers, experimental demonstration of this algorithm has proved elusive. Here we report an implementation of the simplest instance of Shor's algorithm: factorization of N = 15 (whose prime factors are 3 and 5). We use seven spin-1/2 nuclei in a molecule as quantum bits, which can be manipulated with room temperature liquid-state nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. This method of using nuclei to store quantum information is in principle scalable to systems containing many quantum bits, but such scalability is not implied by the present work. The significance of our work lies in the demonstration of experimental and theoretical techniques for precise control and modelling of complex quantum computers. In particular, we present a simple, parameter-free but predictive model of decoherence effects in our system.

Opening-assisted coherent transport in the semiclassical regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yang; Celardo, G. Luca; Borgonovi, Fausto; Kaplan, Lev

2017-02-01

We study quantum enhancement of transport in open systems in the presence of disorder and dephasing. Quantum coherence effects may significantly enhance transport in open systems even in the semiclassical regime (where the decoherence rate is greater than the intersite hopping amplitude), as long as the disorder is sufficiently strong. When the strengths of disorder and dephasing are fixed, there is an optimal opening strength at which the coherent transport enhancement is optimized. Analytic results are obtained in two simple paradigmatic tight-binding models of large systems: the linear chain and the fully connected network. The physical behavior is also reflected in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) photosynthetic complex, which may be viewed as intermediate between these paradigmatic models.

Practical purification scheme for decohered coherent-state superpositions via partial homodyne detection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Suzuki, Shigenari; Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Keio University, 3-14-1, Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama, 223-8522; Takeoka, Masahiro

2006-04-15

We present a simple protocol to purify a coherent-state superposition that has undergone a linear lossy channel. The scheme constitutes only a single beam splitter and a homodyne detector, and thus is experimentally feasible. In practice, a superposition of coherent states is transformed into a classical mixture of coherent states by linear loss, which is usually the dominant decoherence mechanism in optical systems. We also address the possibility of producing a larger amplitude superposition state from decohered states, and show that in most cases the decoherence of the states are amplified along with the amplitude.

Universal non-adiabatic holonomic quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces with quantum dots inside a cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jun; Dong, Ping; Zhou, Jian; Cao, Zhuo-Liang

2017-05-01

A scheme for implementing the non-adiabatic holonomic quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces is proposed with the interactions between a microcavity and quantum dots. A universal set of quantum gates can be constructed on the encoded logical qubits with high fidelities. The current scheme can suppress both local and collective noises, which is very important for achieving universal quantum computation. Discussions about the gate fidelities with the experimental parameters show that our schemes can be implemented in current experimental technology. Therefore, our scenario offers a method for universal and robust solid-state quantum computation.

Quantum-holographic and classical Hopfield-like associative nnets: implications for modeling two cognitive modes of consciousness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rakovic, D.; Dugic, M.

2005-05-01

Quantum bases of consciousness are considered with psychosomatic implications of three front lines of psychosomatic medicine (hesychastic spirituality, holistic Eastern medicine, and symptomatic Western medicine), as well as cognitive implications of two modes of individual consciousness (quantum-coherent transitional and altered states, and classically reduced normal states) alongside with conditions of transformations of one mode into another (considering consciousness quantum-coherence/classical-decoherence acupuncture system/nervous system interaction, direct and reverse, with and without threshold limits, respectively) - by using theoretical methods of associative neural networks and quantum neural holography combined with quantum decoherence theory.

Generalized Quantum Theory of Bianchi IX Cosmologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Craig, David; Hartle, James

2003-04-01

We apply sum-over-histories generalized quantum theory to the closed homogeneous minisuperspace Bianchi IX cosmological model. We sketch how the probabilities in decoherent sets of alternative, coarse-grained histories of this model universe are calculated. We consider in particular, the probabilities for classical evolution in a suitable coarse-graining. For a restricted class of initial conditions and coarse grainings we exhibit the approximate decoherence of alternative histories in which the universe behaves classically and those in which it does not, illustrating the prediction that these universes will evolve in an approximately classical manner with a probability near unity.

Decoherence suppression of tripartite entanglement in non-Markovian environments by using weak measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Zhi-yong; He, Juan; Ye, Liu

2017-02-01

A feasible scheme for protecting the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) entanglement state in non-Markovian environments is proposed. It consists of prior weak measurement on each qubit before the interaction with decoherence environments followed by post quantum measurement reversals. It is shown that both the fidelity and concurrence of the GHZ state can be effectively improved. Meanwhile, we also verified that our scenario can enhance tripartite nonlocality remarkably. In addition, the result indicates that the larger the weak measurement strength, the better the effectiveness of the scheme with the lower success probability.

Robust one-step catalytic machine for high fidelity anticloning and W-state generation in a multiqubit system.

PubMed

Olaya-Castro, Alexandra; Johnson, Neil F; Quiroga, Luis

2005-03-25

We propose a physically realizable machine which can either generate multiparticle W-like states, or implement high-fidelity 1-->M (M=1,2,...infinity) anticloning of an arbitrary qubit state, in a single step. This universal machine acts as a catalyst in that it is unchanged after either procedure, effectively resetting itself for its next operation. It possesses an inherent immunity to decoherence. Most importantly in terms of practical multiparty quantum communication, the machine's robustness in the presence of decoherence actually increases as the number of qubits M increases.

Bulk and surface loss in superconducting transmon qubits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dial, Oliver; McClure, Douglas T.; Poletto, Stefano; Keefe, G. A.; Rothwell, Mary Beth; Gambetta, Jay M.; Abraham, David W.; Chow, Jerry M.; Steffen, Matthias

2016-04-01

Decoherence of superconducting transmon qubits is purported to be consistent with surface loss from two-level systems on the substrate surface. Here, we present a study of surface loss in transmon devices, explicitly designed to have varying sensitivities to different surface loss contributors. Our experiments also encompass two particular different sapphire substrates, which reveal the onset of a yet unknown additional loss mechanism outside of surface loss for one of the substrates. Tests across different wafers and devices demonstrate substantial variation, and we emphasize the importance of testing large numbers of devices for disentangling different sources of decoherence.

Correlated Errors in the Surface Code

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopez, Daniel; Mucciolo, E. R.; Novais, E.

2012-02-01

A milestone step into the development of quantum information technology would be the ability to design and operate a reliable quantum memory. The greatest obstacle to create such a device has been decoherence due to the unavoidable interaction between the quantum system and its environment. Quantum Error Correction is therefore an essential ingredient to any quantum computing information device. A great deal of attention has been given to surface codes, since it has very good scaling properties. In this seminar, we discuss the time evolution of a qubit encoded in the logical basis of a surface code. The system is interacting with a bosonic environment at zero temperature. Our results show how much spatial and time correlations can be detrimental to the efficiency of the code.

Objectivity in a Noisy Photonic Environment through Quantum State Information Broadcasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korbicz, J. K.; Horodecki, P.; Horodecki, R.

2014-03-01

Recently, the emergence of classical objectivity as a property of a quantum state has been explicitly derived for a small object embedded in a photonic environment in terms of a spectrum broadcast form—a specific classically correlated state, redundantly encoding information about the preferred states of the object in the environment. However, the environment was in a pure state and the fundamental problem was how generic and robust is the conclusion. Here, we prove that despite the initial environmental noise, the emergence of the broadcast structure still holds, leading to the perceived objectivity of the state of the object. We also show how this leads to a quantum Darwinism-type condition, reflecting the classicality of proliferated information in terms of a limit behavior of the mutual information. Quite surprisingly, we find "singular points" of the decoherence, which can be used to faithfully broadcast a specific classical message through the noisy environment.

Scalable architecture for a room temperature solid-state quantum information processor.

PubMed

Yao, N Y; Jiang, L; Gorshkov, A V; Maurer, P C; Giedke, G; Cirac, J I; Lukin, M D

2012-04-24

The realization of a scalable quantum information processor has emerged over the past decade as one of the central challenges at the interface of fundamental science and engineering. Here we propose and analyse an architecture for a scalable, solid-state quantum information processor capable of operating at room temperature. Our approach is based on recent experimental advances involving nitrogen-vacancy colour centres in diamond. In particular, we demonstrate that the multiple challenges associated with operation at ambient temperature, individual addressing at the nanoscale, strong qubit coupling, robustness against disorder and low decoherence rates can be simultaneously achieved under realistic, experimentally relevant conditions. The architecture uses a novel approach to quantum information transfer and includes a hierarchy of control at successive length scales. Moreover, it alleviates the stringent constraints currently limiting the realization of scalable quantum processors and will provide fundamental insights into the physics of non-equilibrium many-body quantum systems.

Electrochemical quantum tunneling for electronic detection and characterization of biological toxins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Chaitanya; Walker, Ross M.; Gharpuray, Rishi; Shulaker, Max M.; Zhang, Zhiyong; Javanmard, Mehdi; Davis, Ronald W.; Murmann, Boris; Howe, Roger T.

2012-06-01

This paper introduces a label-free, electronic biomolecular sensing platform for the detection and characterization of trace amounts of biological toxins within a complex background matrix. The mechanism for signal transduction is the electrostatic coupling of molecule bond vibrations to charge transport across an insulated electrode-electrolyte interface. The current resulting from the interface charge flow has long been regarded as an experimental artifact of little interest in the development of traditional charge based biosensors like the ISFET, and has been referred to in the literature as a "leakage current". However, we demonstrate by experimental measurements and theoretical modeling that this current has a component that arises from the rate-limiting transition of a quantum mechanical electronic relaxation event, wherein the electronic tunneling process between a hydrated proton in the electrolyte and the metallic electrode is closely coupled to the bond vibrations of molecular species in the electrolyte. Different strategies to minimize the effect of quantum decoherence in the quantized exchange of energy between the molecular vibrations and electron energy will be discussed, as well as the experimental implications of such strategies. Since the mechanism for the transduction of chemical information is purely electronic and does not require labels or tags or optical transduction, the proposed platform is scalable. Furthermore, it can achieve the chemical specificity typically associated with traditional micro-array or mass spectrometry-based platforms that are used currently to analyze complex biological fluids for trace levels of toxins or pathogen markers.

Thermal magnetic field noise limits resolution in transmission electron microscopy.

PubMed

Uhlemann, Stephan; Müller, Heiko; Hartel, Peter; Zach, Joachim; Haider, Max

2013-07-26

The resolving power of an electron microscope is determined by the optics and the stability of the instrument. Recently, progress has been obtained towards subångström resolution at beam energies of 80 kV and below but a discrepancy between the expected and achieved instrumental information limit has been observed. Here we show that magnetic field noise from thermally driven currents in the conductive parts of the instrument is the root cause for this hitherto unexplained decoherence phenomenon. We demonstrate that the deleterious effect depends on temperature and at least weakly on the type of material.

Customizing vacuum fluctuations for enhanced entanglement creation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jin

2018-07-01

This paper connects the creation of entanglement through cavity enhanced decay rate with practical design parameters such as cavity dimension and cavity mirror reflectivity. The clarification of specific physical parameters on cavity enhanced emission in relation to entanglement creation is discussed. It is found that entanglement increases as the size of the cavity decreases, or the reflectivity of the cavity mirrors increases. Additionally, the negative effect of individual qubit decoherence on the entanglement is discussed. These results can be used to design or choose a practical system for implementing entanglement between two qubits for quantum computation and information processing.

Physics at the FMQT’08 conference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Špička, V.; Nieuwenhuizen, Th. M.; Keefe, P. D.

2010-01-01

This paper summarizes the recent state of the art of the following topics presented at the FQMT’08 conference: Foundations of quantum physics, Quantum measurement; Quantum noise, decoherence and dephasing; Cold atoms and Bose-Einstein condensation; Physics of quantum computing and information; Nonequilibrium quantum statistical mechanics; Quantum, mesoscopic and partly classical thermodynamics; Mesoscopic, nano-electro-mechanical systems and optomechanical systems; Spins systems and their dynamics, Brownian motion and molecular motors; Physics of biological systems, and Relevant experiments from the nanoscale to the macroscale. To all these subjects an introduction is given and the recent literature is overviewed. The paper contains some 680 references in total.

Retrieving the lost fermionic entanglement by partial measurement in noninertial frames

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Xing; Xie, Ying-Mao; Yao, Yao; Li, Yan-Ling; Wang, Jieci

2018-03-01

The initial entanglement shared between inertial and accelerated observers degrades due to the influence of the Unruh effect. Here, we show that the Unruh effect can be completely eliminated by the technique of partial measurement. The lost entanglement could be entirely retrieved or even amplified, which is dependent on whether the optimal strength of reversed measurement is state-independent or state-dependent. Our work provides a novel and unexpected method to recover the lost entanglement under Unruh decoherence and exhibits the ability of partial measurement as an important technique in relativistic quantum information.

Quantum origin of quantum jumps: Breaking of unitary symmetry induced by information transfer in the transition from quantum to classical

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zurek, Wojciech Hubert

2007-11-01

Measurements transfer information about a system to the apparatus and then, further on, to observers and (often inadvertently) to the environment. I show that even imperfect copying essential in such situations restricts possible unperturbed outcomes to an orthogonal subset of all possible states of the system, thus breaking the unitary symmetry of its Hilbert space implied by the quantum superposition principle. Preferred outcome states emerge as a result. They provide a framework for “wave-packet collapse,” designating terminal points of quantum jumps and defining the measured observable by specifying its eigenstates. In quantum Darwinism, they are the progenitors of multiple copies spread throughout the environment—the fittest quantum states that not only survive decoherence, but subvert the environment into carrying information about them—into becoming a witness.

Single-qubit decoherence under a separable coupling to a random matrix environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrera, M.; Gorin, T.; Seligman, T. H.

2014-08-01

This paper describes the dynamics of a quantum two-level system (qubit) under the influence of an environment modeled by an ensemble of random matrices. In distinction to earlier work, we consider here separable couplings and focus on a regime where the decoherence time is of the same order of magnitude as the environmental Heisenberg time. We derive an analytical expression in the linear response approximation, and study its accuracy by comparison with numerical simulations. We discuss a series of unusual properties, such as purity oscillations, strong signatures of spectral correlations (in the environment Hamiltonian), memory effects, and symmetry-breaking equilibrium states.

Random matrix ensembles for many-body quantum systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vyas, Manan; Seligman, Thomas H.

2018-04-01

Classical random matrix ensembles were originally introduced in physics to approximate quantum many-particle nuclear interactions. However, there exists a plethora of quantum systems whose dynamics is explained in terms of few-particle (predom-inantly two-particle) interactions. The random matrix models incorporating the few-particle nature of interactions are known as embedded random matrix ensembles. In the present paper, we provide a brief overview of these two ensembles and illustrate how the embedded ensembles can be successfully used to study decoherence of a qubit interacting with an environment, both for fermionic and bosonic embedded ensembles. Numerical calculations show the dependence of decoherence on the nature of the environment.

Decoherence Effect on Quantum Correlation and Entanglement in a Two-qubit Spin Chain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pourkarimi, Mohammad Reza; Rahnama, Majid; Rooholamini, Hossein

2015-04-01

Assuming a two-qubit system in Werner state which evolves in Heisenberg XY model with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction under the effect of different environments. We evaluate and compare quantum entanglement, quantum and classical correlation measures. It is shown that in the absence of decoherence effects, there is a critical value of DM interaction for which entanglement may vanish while quantum and classical correlations do not. In the presence of environment the behavior of correlations depends on the kind of system-environment interaction. Correlations can be sustained by manipulating Hamiltonian anisotropic-parameter in a dissipative environment. Quantum and classical correlations are more stable than entanglement generally.

Dissipation, dephasing and quantum Darwinism in qubit systems with random unitary interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balaneskovic, Nenad; Mendler, Marc

2016-09-01

We investigate the influence of dissipation and decoherence on quantum Darwinism by generalizing Zurek's original qubit model of decoherence and the establishment of pointer states [W.H. Zurek, Nat. Phys. 5, 181 (2009); see also arXiv: quant-ph/0707.2832v1, pp. 14-19.]. Our model allows for repeated multiple qubit-qubit couplings between system and environment which are described by randomly applied two-qubit quantum operations inducing entanglement, dissipation and dephasing. The resulting stationary qubit states of system and environment are investigated. They exhibit the intricate influence of entanglement generation, dissipation and dephasing on this characteristic quantum phenomenon.

Quantum-classical transition of photon-Carnot engine induced by quantum decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quan, H. T.; Zhang, P.; Sun, C. P.

2006-03-01

We study the physical implementation of the photon-Carnot engine (PCE) based on the cavity quantum electrodynamics system [M. O. Scully, M. Suhail Zubairy, G. S. Agarwal, and H. Walther, Science 299, 862 (2003)]. Here we analyze two decoherence mechanisms for the more practical systems of PCE, the dissipation of photon field, and the pure dephasing of the input atoms. As a result we find that (i) the PCE can work well to some extent even in the existence of the cavity loss (photon dissipation) and (ii) the short-time atomic dephasing, which can destroy the PCE, is a fatal problem to be overcome.

Adiabatic transport of qubits around a black hole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viennot, David; Moro, Olivia

2017-03-01

We consider localized qubits evolving around a black hole following a quantum adiabatic dynamics. We develop a geometric structure (based on fibre bundles) permitting to describe the quantum states of a qubit and the spacetime geometry in a single framework. The quantum decoherence induced by the black hole on the qubit is analysed in this framework (the role of the dynamical and geometric phases in this decoherence is treated), especially for the quantum teleportation protocol when one qubit falls to the event horizon. A simple formula to compute the fidelity of the teleportation is derived. The case of a Schwarzschild black hole is analysed.

Multiple-Quantum Transitions and Charge-Induced Decoherence of Donor Nuclear Spins in Silicon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franke, David P.; Pflüger, Moritz P. D.; Itoh, Kohei M.; Brandt, Martin S.

2017-06-01

We study single- and multiquantum transitions of the nuclear spins of an ensemble of ionized arsenic donors in silicon and find quadrupolar effects on the coherence times, which we link to fluctuating electrical field gradients present after the application of light and bias voltage pulses. To determine the coherence times of superpositions of all orders in the 4-dimensional Hilbert space, we use a phase-cycling technique and find that, when electrical effects were allowed to decay, these times scale as expected for a fieldlike decoherence mechanism such as the interaction with surrounding Si 29 nuclear spins.

Decoherence and spin echo in biological systems.

PubMed

Nesterov, Alexander I; Berman, Gennady P

2015-05-01

The spin-echo approach is extended to include biocomplexes for which the interaction with dynamical noise, produced by the protein environment, is strong. Significant restoration of the free induction decay signal due to homogeneous (decoherence) and inhomogeneous (dephasing) broadening is demonstrated analytically and numerically for both an individual dimer of interacting chlorophylls and for an ensemble of dimers. Our approach does not require the use of small interaction constants between the electron states and the protein fluctuations. It is based on an exact and closed system of ordinary differential equations that can be easily solved for a wide range of parameters that are relevant for bioapplications.

Surface hopping, transition state theory and decoherence. I. Scattering theory and time-reversibility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jain, Amber; Herman, Michael F.; Ouyang, Wenjun; Subotnik, Joseph E.

2015-10-01

We provide an in-depth investigation of transmission coefficients as computed using the augmented-fewest switches surface hopping algorithm in the low energy regime. Empirically, microscopic reversibility is shown to hold approximately. Furthermore, we show that, in some circumstances, including decoherence on top of surface hopping calculations can help recover (as opposed to destroy) oscillations in the transmission coefficient as a function of energy; these oscillations can be studied analytically with semiclassical scattering theory. Finally, in the spirit of transition state theory, we also show that transmission coefficients can be calculated rather accurately starting from the curve crossing point and running trajectories forwards and backwards.

Decoherence and thermalization of a pure quantum state in quantum field theory.

PubMed

Giraud, Alexandre; Serreau, Julien

2010-06-11

We study the real-time evolution of a self-interacting O(N) scalar field initially prepared in a pure, coherent quantum state. We present a complete solution of the nonequilibrium quantum dynamics from a 1/N expansion of the two-particle-irreducible effective action at next-to-leading order, which includes scattering and memory effects. We demonstrate that, restricting one's attention (or ability to measure) to a subset of the infinite hierarchy of correlation functions, one observes an effective loss of purity or coherence and, on longer time scales, thermalization. We point out that the physics of decoherence is well described by classical statistical field theory.

Decoherence and spin echo in biological systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nesterov, Alexander I.; Berman, Gennady P.

2015-05-01

The spin-echo approach is extended to include biocomplexes for which the interaction with dynamical noise, produced by the protein environment, is strong. Significant restoration of the free induction decay signal due to homogeneous (decoherence) and inhomogeneous (dephasing) broadening is demonstrated analytically and numerically for both an individual dimer of interacting chlorophylls and for an ensemble of dimers. Our approach does not require the use of small interaction constants between the electron states and the protein fluctuations. It is based on an exact and closed system of ordinary differential equations that can be easily solved for a wide range of parameters that are relevant for bioapplications.

Gravitational decoherence, alternative quantum theories and semiclassical gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, B. L.

2014-04-01

In this report we discuss three aspects: 1) Semiclassical gravity theory (SCG): 4 levels of theories describing the interaction of quantum matter with classical gravity. 2) Alternative Quantum Theories: Discerning those which are derivable from general relativity (GR) plus quantum field theory (QFT) from those which are not 3) Gravitational Decoherence: derivation of a master equation and examination of the assumptions which led to the claims of observational possibilities. We list three sets of corresponding problems worthy of pursuit: a) Newton-Schrödinger Equations in relation to SCG; b) Master equation of gravity-induced effects serving as discriminator of 2); and c) Role of gravity in macroscopic quantum phenomena.

Thermal magnetic field noise: electron optics and decoherence.

PubMed

Uhlemann, Stephan; Müller, Heiko; Zach, Joachim; Haider, Max

2015-04-01

Thermal magnetic field noise from magnetic and non-magnetic conductive parts close to the electron beam recently has been identified as a reason for decoherence in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Here, we report about new experimental results from measurements for a layered structure of magnetic and non-magnetic materials. For a simplified version of this setup and other situations we derive semi-analytical models in order to predict the strength, bandwidth and spatial correlation of the noise fields. The results of the simulations are finally compared to previous and new experimental data in a quantitative manner. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Decoherence and discrete symmetries in deformed relativistic kinematics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arzano, Michele

2018-01-01

Models of deformed Poincaré symmetries based on group valued momenta have long been studied as effective modifications of relativistic kinematics possibly capturing quantum gravity effects. In this contribution we show how they naturally lead to a generalized quantum time evolution of the type proposed to model fundamental decoherence for quantum systems in the presence of an evaporating black hole. The same structures which determine such generalized evolution also lead to a modification of the action of discrete symmetries and of the CPT operator. These features can in principle be used to put phenomenological constraints on models of deformed relativistic symmetries using precision measurements of neutral kaons.

Robust transmission of non-Gaussian entanglement over optical fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biswas, Asoka; Lidar, Daniel A.

2006-12-01

We show how the entanglement in a wide range of continuous variable non-Gaussian states can be preserved against decoherence for long-range quantum communication through an optical fiber. We apply protection via decoherence-free subspaces and quantum dynamical decoupling to this end. The latter is implemented by inserting phase shifters at regular intervals Δ inside the fiber, where Δ is roughly the ratio of the speed of light in the fiber to the bath high-frequency cutoff. Detailed estimates of relevant parameters are provided using the boson-boson model of system-bath interaction for silica fibers and Δ is found to be on the order of a millimeter.

Multipartite entangled states in particle mixing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blasone, M.; INFN Sezione di Napoli, Gruppo collegato di Salerno, Baronissi; Dell'Anno, F.

2008-05-01

In the physics of flavor mixing, the flavor states are given by superpositions of mass eigenstates. By using the occupation number to define a multiqubit space, the flavor states can be interpreted as multipartite mode-entangled states. By exploiting a suitable global measure of entanglement, based on the entropies related to all possible bipartitions of the system, we analyze the correlation properties of such states in the instances of three- and four-flavor mixing. Depending on the mixing parameters, and, in particular, on the values taken by the free phases, responsible for the CP-violation, entanglement concentrates in certain bipartitions. We quantify inmore » detail the amount and the distribution of entanglement in the physically relevant cases of flavor mixing in quark and neutrino systems. By using the wave packet description for localized particles, we use the global measure of entanglement, suitably adapted for the instance of multipartite mixed states, to analyze the decoherence, induced by the free evolution dynamics, on the quantum correlations of stationary neutrino beams. We define a decoherence length as the distance associated with the vanishing of the coherent interference effects among massive neutrino states. We investigate the role of the CP-violating phase in the decoherence process.« less

The excitonic qubit coupled with a phonon bath on a star graph: anomalous decoherence and coherence revivals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yalouz, S.; Falvo, C.; Pouthier, V.

2017-06-01

Based on the operatorial formulation of perturbation theory, the dynamical properties of a Frenkel exciton coupled with a thermal phonon bath on a star graph are studied. Within this method, the dynamics is governed by an effective Hamiltonian which accounts for exciton-phonon entanglement. The exciton is dressed by a virtual phonon cloud, whereas the phonons are dressed by virtual excitonic transitions. Special attention is paid to the description of the coherence of a qubit state initially located on the central node of the graph. Within the nonadiabatic weak coupling limit, it is shown that several timescales govern the coherence dynamics. In the short time limit, the coherence behaves as if the exciton was insensitive to the phonon bath. Then, quantum decoherence takes place, this decoherence being enhanced by the size of the graph and by temperature. However, the coherence does not vanish in the long time limit. Instead, it exhibits incomplete revivals that occur periodically at specific revival times and it shows almost exact recurrences that take place at particular super-revival times, a singular behavior that has been corroborated by performing exact quantum calculations.

Gravity and decoherence: the double slit experiment revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samuel, Joseph

2018-02-01

The double slit experiment is iconic and widely used in classrooms to demonstrate the fundamental mystery of quantum physics. The puzzling feature is that the probability of an electron arriving at the detector when both slits are open is not the sum of the probabilities when the slits are open separately. The superposition principle of quantum mechanics tells us to add amplitudes rather than probabilities and this results in interference. This experiment defies our classical intuition that the probabilities of exclusive events add. In understanding the emergence of the classical world from the quantum one, there have been suggestions by Feynman, Diosi and Penrose that gravity is responsible for suppressing interference. This idea has been pursued in many different forms ever since, predominantly within Newtonian approaches to gravity. In this paper, we propose and theoretically analyse two ‘gedanken’ or thought experiments which lend strong support to the idea that gravity is responsible for decoherence. The first makes the point that thermal radiation can suppress interference. The second shows that in an accelerating frame, Unruh radiation does the same. Invoking the Einstein equivalence principle to relate acceleration to gravity, we support the view that gravity is responsible for decoherence.

Drift of charge carriers in crystalline organic semiconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Jingjuan; Si, Wei; Wu, Chang-Qin

2016-04-01

We investigate the direct-current response of crystalline organic semiconductors in the presence of finite external electric fields by the quantum-classical Ehrenfest dynamics complemented with instantaneous decoherence corrections (IDC). The IDC is carried out in the real-space representation with the energy-dependent reweighing factors to account for both intermolecular decoherence and energy relaxation by which conduction occurs. In this way, both the diffusion and drift motion of charge carriers are described in a unified framework. Based on an off-diagonal electron-phonon coupling model for pentacene, we find that the drift velocity initially increases with the electric field and then decreases at higher fields due to the Wannier-Stark localization, and a negative electric-field dependence of mobility is observed. The Einstein relation, which is a manifestation of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, is found to be restored in electric fields up to ˜105 V/cm for a wide temperature region studied. Furthermore, we show that the incorporated decoherence and energy relaxation could explain the large discrepancy between the mobilities calculated by the Ehrenfest dynamics and the full quantum methods, which proves the effectiveness of our approach to take back these missing processes.

Drift of charge carriers in crystalline organic semiconductors.

PubMed

Dong, Jingjuan; Si, Wei; Wu, Chang-Qin

2016-04-14

We investigate the direct-current response of crystalline organic semiconductors in the presence of finite external electric fields by the quantum-classical Ehrenfest dynamics complemented with instantaneous decoherence corrections (IDC). The IDC is carried out in the real-space representation with the energy-dependent reweighing factors to account for both intermolecular decoherence and energy relaxation by which conduction occurs. In this way, both the diffusion and drift motion of charge carriers are described in a unified framework. Based on an off-diagonal electron-phonon coupling model for pentacene, we find that the drift velocity initially increases with the electric field and then decreases at higher fields due to the Wannier-Stark localization, and a negative electric-field dependence of mobility is observed. The Einstein relation, which is a manifestation of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem, is found to be restored in electric fields up to ∼10(5) V/cm for a wide temperature region studied. Furthermore, we show that the incorporated decoherence and energy relaxation could explain the large discrepancy between the mobilities calculated by the Ehrenfest dynamics and the full quantum methods, which proves the effectiveness of our approach to take back these missing processes.

Enhanced Spin Squeezing in Atomic Ensembles via Control of the Internal Spin States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shojaee, Ezad; Norris, Leigh; Baragiola, Ben; Montano, Enrique; Hemmer, Daniel; Jessen, Poul; Deutsch, Ivan

2015-05-01

Abstract: We study the process by which the collective spin squeezing of an ensemble of Cesium atoms is enhanced by control of the internal spin state of the atoms. By increasing the initial atomic projection noise, one can enhance the Faraday interaction that entangles the atoms with a probe. The light acts as a quantum bus for creating atom-atom entanglement via measurement backaction. Further control can be used to transfer this entanglement to metrologically useful squeezing. We numerically simulate this protocol by a stochastic master equation, including QND measurement and optical pumping, which accounts for decoherence and transfer of coherences between magnetic sub-levels. We study the tradeoff between the enhanced entangling interaction and increased rates of decoherence for different initial state preparations. Under realistic conditions, we find that we can achieve squeezing with a ``CAT-State'' superpostion |F = 4, Mz = 4> + |F, Mz = -4> of ~ 9.9 dB and for the spin coherent state |F = 4, Mx = 4> of ~ 7.5 dB. The increased entanglement enabled by the CAT state preparation is partially, but not completely reduced by the increased fragility to decoherence. National Science Foundation.

Tsallis entropy and decoherence of CsI quantum pseudo dot qubit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiotsop, M.; Fotue, A. J.; Fotsin, H. B.; Fai, L. C.

2017-05-01

Polaron in CsI quantum pseudo dot under an electromagnetic field was considered, and the ground and first excited state energies were derived by employing the combining Pekar variational and unitary transformation methods. With the two-level system obtained, single qubit was envisioned and the decoherence was studied using non-extensive entropy (Tsallis entropy). Numerical results showed: (i) the increase (decrease) of the energy levels (period of oscillation) with the increase of chemical potential, the zero point of pseudo dot, cyclotron frequency, and transverse and longitudinal confinements; (ii) the Tsallis entropy evolved as a wave envelop that increase with the increase of non-extenxive parameter and with the increase of electric field strength, zero point of pseudo dot and cyclotron frequency the wave envelop evolve periodically with reduction of period; (iii) The transition probability increases from the boundary to the centre of the dot where it has its maximum value. It was also noted that the probability density oscillate with period T0 = ℏ / Δ Ε with the tunnelling of the chemical potential and zero point of the pseudo dot. These results are helpful in the control of decoherence in quantum systems and may also be useful for the design of quantum computers.

Investigation of alternative mechanisms to neutrino oscillations in the MINOS experiment; Investigacao de Mecanismos Alternativos a Oscilacao de Neutrinos no Experimentos MINOS (in Spanish)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

de Abreu Barbosa Coelho, Joao

The neutrino oscillation model is very successful in explaining a large variety of experiments. The model is based on the premise that the neutrinos that interact through the weak force via charged current are not mass eigenstates, but a superposition of them. In general, a quantum superposition is subject to loss of coherence, so that pure states tend toward mixed states. This type of evolution is not possible within the context of isolated quantum systems because the evolution is unitary and, therefore, is invariant under time reversal. By breaking unitarity, an arrow of time is introduced and the characteristic effectmore » for neutrinos is a damping of oscillations. In this thesis, some phenomenological decoherence and decay models are investigated, which could be observed by MINOS, a neutrino oscillation experiment that consists of measuring the neutrino flux produced in a particle accelerator 735 km away. We analyse the disappearance of muon neutrinos in MINOS. Information from other experiments is used to constrain the number of parameters, leaving only one extra parameter in each model. We assume a power law energy dependence of the decoherence parameter. The official MINOS software and simulation are used to obtain the experiment's sensitivities to the effects of unitarity breaking considered.« less

Control of electron spin decoherence in nuclear spin baths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ren-Bao

2011-03-01

Nuclear spin baths are a main mechanism of decoherence of spin qubits in solid-state systems, such as quantum dots and nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers of diamond. The decoherence results from entanglement between the electron and nuclear spins, established by quantum evolution of the bath conditioned on the electron spin state. When the electron spin is flipped, the conditional bath evolution is manipulated. Such manipulation of bath through control of the electron spin not only leads to preservation of the center spin coherence but also demonstrates quantum nature of the bath. In an NV center system, the electron spin effectively interacts with hundreds of 13 C nuclear spins. Under repeated flip control (dynamical decoupling), the electron spin coherence can be preserved for a long time (> 1 ms) . Thereforesomecharacteristicoscillations , duetocouplingtoabonded 13 C nuclear spin pair (a dimer), are imprinted on the electron spin coherence profile, which are very sensitive to the position and orientation of the dimer. With such finger-print oscillations, a dimer can be uniquely identified. Thus, we propose magnetometry with single-nucleus sensitivity and atomic resolution, using NV center spin coherence to identify single molecules. Through the center spin coherence, we could also explore the many-body physics in an interacting spin bath. The information of elementary excitations and many-body correlations can be extracted from the center spin coherence under many-pulse dynamical decoupling control. Another application of the preserved spin coherence is identifying quantumness of a spin bath through the back-action of the electron spin to the bath. We show that the multiple transition of an NV center in a nuclear spin bath can have longer coherence time than the single transition does, when the classical noises due to inhomogeneous broadening is removed by spin echo. This counter-intuitive result unambiguously demonstrates the quantumness of the nuclear spin bath. This work was supported by Hong Kong RGC/GRF CUHK402207, CUHK402209, and CUHK402410. The author acknowledges collaboration with Nan Zhao, Jian-Liang Hu, Sai Wah Ho, Jones T. K. Wan, and Jiangfeng Du.

Experimental Raman adiabatic transfer of optical states in rubidium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Appel, Jürgen; Figueroa, Eden; Vewinger, Frank; Marzlin, Karl-Peter; Lvovsky, Alexander

2007-06-01

An essential element of a quantum optical communication network is a tool for transferring and/or distributing quantum information between optical modes (possibly of different frequencies) in a loss- and decoherence-free fashion. We present a theory [1] and an experimental demonstration [2] of a protocol for routing and frequency conversion of optical quantum information via electromagnetically-induced transparency in an atomic system with multiple excited levels. Transfer of optical states between different signal modes is implemented by adiabatically changing the control fields. The proof-of-principle experiment is performed using the hyperfine levels of the rubidium D1 line. [1] F. Vewinger, J. Appel, E. Figueroa, A. I. Lvovsky, quant-ph/0611181 [2] J. Appel, K.-P. Marzlin, A. I. Lvovsky, Phys. Rev. A 73, 013804 (2006)

Complete Bell-state analysis for superconducting-quantum-interference-device qubits with a transitionless tracking algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Yi-Hao; Chen, Ye-Hong; Shi, Zhi-Cheng; Huang, Bi-Hua; Song, Jie; Xia, Yan

2017-08-01

We propose a protocol for complete Bell-state analysis for two superconducting-quantum-interference-device qubits. The Bell-state analysis could be completed by using a sequence of microwave pulses designed by the transitionless tracking algorithm, which is a useful method in the technique of shortcut to adiabaticity. After the whole process, the information for distinguishing four Bell states will be encoded on two auxiliary qubits, while the Bell states remain unchanged. One can read out the information by detecting the auxiliary qubits. Thus the Bell-state analysis is nondestructive. The numerical simulations show that the protocol possesses a high success probability of distinguishing each Bell state with current experimental technology even when decoherence is taken into account. Thus, the protocol may have potential applications for the information readout in quantum communications and quantum computations in superconducting quantum networks.

Fluctuation relations and Maxwell's demon in a circuit QED setup

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakamura, Yasunobu

The recent progress in information thermodynamics has resolved the paradox of Maxwell's demon and clarified the relationship between the information and the entropy. Its extension to quantum mechanical systems has also attracted much interest, and experimental demonstrations are awaited. Circuit QED systems offer the following tools suitable for investigating the properties of a quantum system coupled with a controlled environment: (i) a well-controlled qubit with a long coherence time, (ii) dispersive readout allowing high-fidelity quantum nondemolition measurement, and (iii) fast feedback control. We first apply the so-called two-measurement protocol (TMP) to a superconducting transmon qubit in a microwave cavity and study how the decoherence affects the nonequilibrium thermodynamic relations. Next, we implement Maxwell's demon in the circuit QED system by introducing a feedback loop and confirm the fluctuation relation including the effect of the information obtained in the feedback process. These results constitute a first step towards quantum thermodynamics in circuit QED systems.

Robust bidirectional links for photonic quantum networks

PubMed Central

Xu, Jin-Shi; Yung, Man-Hong; Xu, Xiao-Ye; Tang, Jian-Shun; Li, Chuan-Feng; Guo, Guang-Can

2016-01-01

Optical fibers are widely used as one of the main tools for transmitting not only classical but also quantum information. We propose and report an experimental realization of a promising method for creating robust bidirectional quantum communication links through paired optical polarization-maintaining fibers. Many limitations of existing protocols can be avoided with the proposed method. In particular, the path and polarization degrees of freedom are combined to deterministically create a photonic decoherence-free subspace without the need for any ancillary photon. This method is input state–independent, robust against dephasing noise, postselection-free, and applicable bidirectionally. To rigorously quantify the amount of quantum information transferred, the optical fibers are analyzed with the tools developed in quantum communication theory. These results not only suggest a practical means for protecting quantum information sent through optical quantum networks but also potentially provide a new physical platform for enriching the structure of the quantum communication theory. PMID:26824069

Optimal control of complex atomic quantum systems

PubMed Central

van Frank, S.; Bonneau, M.; Schmiedmayer, J.; Hild, S.; Gross, C.; Cheneau, M.; Bloch, I.; Pichler, T.; Negretti, A.; Calarco, T.; Montangero, S.

2016-01-01

Quantum technologies will ultimately require manipulating many-body quantum systems with high precision. Cold atom experiments represent a stepping stone in that direction: a high degree of control has been achieved on systems of increasing complexity. However, this control is still sub-optimal. In many scenarios, achieving a fast transformation is crucial to fight against decoherence and imperfection effects. Optimal control theory is believed to be the ideal candidate to bridge the gap between early stage proof-of-principle demonstrations and experimental protocols suitable for practical applications. Indeed, it can engineer protocols at the quantum speed limit – the fastest achievable timescale of the transformation. Here, we demonstrate such potential by computing theoretically and verifying experimentally the optimal transformations in two very different interacting systems: the coherent manipulation of motional states of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate and the crossing of a quantum phase transition in small systems of cold atoms in optical lattices. We also show that such processes are robust with respect to perturbations, including temperature and atom number fluctuations. PMID:27725688

Optimal control of complex atomic quantum systems.

PubMed

van Frank, S; Bonneau, M; Schmiedmayer, J; Hild, S; Gross, C; Cheneau, M; Bloch, I; Pichler, T; Negretti, A; Calarco, T; Montangero, S

2016-10-11

Quantum technologies will ultimately require manipulating many-body quantum systems with high precision. Cold atom experiments represent a stepping stone in that direction: a high degree of control has been achieved on systems of increasing complexity. However, this control is still sub-optimal. In many scenarios, achieving a fast transformation is crucial to fight against decoherence and imperfection effects. Optimal control theory is believed to be the ideal candidate to bridge the gap between early stage proof-of-principle demonstrations and experimental protocols suitable for practical applications. Indeed, it can engineer protocols at the quantum speed limit - the fastest achievable timescale of the transformation. Here, we demonstrate such potential by computing theoretically and verifying experimentally the optimal transformations in two very different interacting systems: the coherent manipulation of motional states of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate and the crossing of a quantum phase transition in small systems of cold atoms in optical lattices. We also show that such processes are robust with respect to perturbations, including temperature and atom number fluctuations.

Quantum time crystal by decoherence: Proposal with an incommensurate charge density wave ring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakatsugawa, K.; Fujii, T.; Tanda, S.

2017-09-01

We show that time translation symmetry of a ring system with a macroscopic quantum ground state is broken by decoherence. In particular, we consider a ring-shaped incommensurate charge density wave (ICDW ring) threaded by a fluctuating magnetic flux: the Caldeira-Leggett model is used to model the fluctuating flux as a bath of harmonic oscillators. We show that the charge density expectation value of a quantized ICDW ring coupled to its environment oscillates periodically. The Hamiltonians considered in this model are time independent unlike "Floquet time crystals" considered recently. Our model forms a metastable quantum time crystal with a finite length in space and in time.

Shortcuts to adiabatic passage for fast generation of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states by transitionless quantum driving.

PubMed

Chen, Ye-Hong; Xia, Yan; Song, Jie; Chen, Qing-Qin

2015-10-28

Berry's approach on "transitionless quantum driving" shows how to set a Hamiltonian which drives the dynamics of a system along instantaneous eigenstates of a reference Hamiltonian to reproduce the same final result of an adiabatic process in a shorter time. In this paper, motivated by transitionless quantum driving, we construct shortcuts to adiabatic passage in a three-atom system to create the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states with the help of quantum Zeno dynamics and of non-resonant lasers. The influence of various decoherence processes is discussed by numerical simulation and the result proves that the scheme is fast and robust against decoherence and operational imperfection.

Fast generating Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state via iterative interaction pictures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Bi-Hua; Chen, Ye-Hong; Wu, Qi-Cheng; Song, Jie; Xia, Yan

2016-10-01

We delve a little deeper into the construction of shortcuts to adiabatic passage for three-level systems by iterative interaction picture (multiple Schrödinger dynamics). As an application example, we use the deduced iterative based shortcuts to rapidly generate the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state in a three-atom system with the help of quantum Zeno dynamics. Numerical simulation shows the dynamics designed by the iterative picture method is physically feasible and the shortcut scheme performs much better than that using the conventional adiabatic passage techniques. Also, the influences of various decoherence processes are discussed by numerical simulation and the results prove that the scheme is fast and robust against decoherence and operational imperfection.

The Decoherence and Interference of Cosmological Arrows of Time for a de Sitter Universe with Quantum Fluctuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rotondo, Marcello; Nambu, Yasusada

2018-06-01

We consider the superposition of two semiclassical solutions of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation for a de Sitter universe, describing a quantized scalar vacuum propagating in a universe that is contracting in one case and expanding in the other, each identifying a opposite cosmological arrow of time. We discuss the suppression of the interference terms between the two arrows of time due to environment-induced decoherence caused by modes of the scalar vacuum crossing the Hubble horizon. Furthermore, we quantify the effect of the interference on the expectation value of the observable field mode correlations, with respect to an observer that we identify with the spatial geometry.

Production of Entanglement Entropy by Decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Merkli, M.; Berman, G. P.; Sayre, R. T.; Wang, X.; Nesterov, A. I.

We examine the dynamics of entanglement entropy of all parts in an open system consisting of a two-level dimer interacting with an environment of oscillators. The dimer-environment interaction is almost energy conserving. We find the precise link between decoherence and production of entanglement entropy. We show that not all environment oscillators carry significant entanglement entropy and we identify the oscillator frequency regions which contribute to the production of entanglement entropy. For energy conserving dimer-environment interactions the models are explicitly solvable and our results hold for all dimer-environment coupling strengths. We carry out a mathematically rigorous perturbation theory around the energy conserving situation in the presence of small non-energy conserving interactions.

Decoherence dynamics of interacting qubits coupled to a bath of local optical phonons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lone, Muzaffar Qadir; Yarlagadda, S.

2016-04-01

We study decoherence in an interacting qubit system described by infinite range Heisenberg model (IRHM) in a situation where the system is coupled to a bath of local optical phonons. Using perturbation theory in polaron frame of reference, we derive an effective Hamiltonian that is valid in the regime of strong spin-phonon coupling under nonadiabatic conditions. It is shown that the effective Hamiltonian commutes with the IRHM upto leading orders of perturbation and thus has the same eigenstates as the IRHM. Using a quantum master equation with Markovian approximation of dynamical evolution, we show that the off-diagonal elements of the density matrix do not decay in the energy eigen basis of IRHM.

Forbidden coherent transfer observed between two realizations of quasiharmonic spin systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertaina, S.; Yue, G.; Dutoit, C.-E.; Chiorescu, I.

2017-07-01

The multilevel system Mn 2 + 55 is used to generate two pseudoharmonic level systems, as representations of the same electronic sextuplet at different nuclear spin projections. The systems are coupled using a forbidden nuclear transition induced by the crystalline anisotropy. We demonstrate Rabi oscillations between the two representations in conditions similar to two coupled pseudoharmonic quantum oscillators. Rabi oscillations are performed at a detuned pumping frequency which matches the energy difference between electronuclear states of different oscillators. We measure a coupling stronger than the decoherence rate to indicate the possibility of fast information exchange between the systems.

Engineering high-order nonlinear dissipation for quantum superconducting circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mundhada, S. O.; Grimm, A.; Touzard, S.; Shankar, S.; Minev, Z. K.; Vool, U.; Mirrahimi, M.; Devoret, M. H.

Engineering nonlinear driven-dissipative processes is essential for quantum control. In the case of a harmonic oscillator, nonlinear dissipation can stabilize a decoherence-free manifold, leading to protected quantum information encoding. One possible approach to implement such nonlinear interactions is to combine the nonlinearities provided by Josephson circuits with parametric pump drives. However, it is usually hard to achieve strong nonlinearities while avoiding undesired couplings. Here we propose a scheme to engineer a four-photon drive and dissipation in a harmonic oscillator by cascading experimentally demonstrated two-photon processes. We also report experimental progress towards realization of such a scheme. Work supported by: ARO, ONR, AFOSR and YINQE.

Trapped-ion quantum logic gates based on oscillating magnetic fields.

PubMed

Ospelkaus, C; Langer, C E; Amini, J M; Brown, K R; Leibfried, D; Wineland, D J

2008-08-29

Oscillating magnetic fields and field gradients can be used to implement single-qubit rotations and entangling multiqubit quantum gates for trapped-ion quantum information processing (QIP). With fields generated by currents in microfabricated surface-electrode traps, it should be possible to achieve gate speeds that are comparable to those of optically induced gates for realistic distances between the ion crystal and the electrode surface. Magnetic-field-mediated gates have the potential to significantly reduce the overhead in laser-beam control and motional-state initialization compared to current QIP experiments with trapped ions and will eliminate spontaneous scattering, a fundamental source of decoherence in laser-mediated gates.

Exploration quantum steering, nonlocality and entanglement of two-qubit X-state in structured reservoirs

PubMed Central

Sun, Wen-Yang; Wang, Dong; Shi, Jia-Dong; Ye, Liu

2017-01-01

In this work, there are two parties, Alice on Earth and Bob on the satellite, which initially share an entangled state, and some open problems, which emerge during quantum steering that Alice remotely steers Bob, are investigated. Our analytical results indicate that all entangled pure states and maximally entangled evolution states (EESs) are steerable, and not every entangled evolution state is steerable and some steerable states are only locally correlated. Besides, quantum steering from Alice to Bob experiences a “sudden death” with increasing decoherence strength. However, shortly after that, quantum steering experiences a recovery with the increase of decoherence strength in bit flip (BF) and phase flip (PF) channels. Interestingly, while they initially share an entangled pure state, all EESs are steerable and obey Bell nonlocality in PF and phase damping channels. In BF channels, all steerable states can violate Bell-CHSH inequality, but some EESs are unable to be employed to realize steering. However, when they initially share an entangled mixed state, the outcome is different from that of the pure state. Furthermore, the steerability of entangled mixed states is weaker than that of entangled pure states. Thereby, decoherence can induce the degradation of quantum steering, and the steerability of state is associated with the interaction between quantum systems and reservoirs. PMID:28145467

Diffusion-assisted selective dynamical recoupling: A new approach to measure background gradients in magnetic resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Álvarez, Gonzalo A.; Shemesh, Noam; Frydman, Lucio

2014-02-01

Dynamical decoupling, a generalization of the original NMR spin-echo sequence, is becoming increasingly relevant as a tool for reducing decoherence in quantum systems. Such sequences apply non-equidistant refocusing pulses for optimizing the coupling between systems, and environmental fluctuations characterized by a given noise spectrum. One such sequence, dubbed Selective Dynamical Recoupling (SDR) [P. E. S. Smith, G. Bensky, G. A. Álvarez, G. Kurizki, and L. Frydman, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 109, 5958 (2012)], allows one to coherently reintroduce diffusion decoherence effects driven by fluctuations arising from restricted molecular diffusion [G. A. Álvarez, N. Shemesh, and L. Frydman, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 080404 (2013)]. The fully-refocused, constant-time, and constant-number-of-pulses nature of SDR also allows one to filter out "intrinsic" T1 and T2 weightings, as well as pulse errors acting as additional sources of decoherence. This article explores such features when the fluctuations are now driven by unrestricted molecular diffusion. In particular, we show that diffusion-driven SDR can be exploited to investigate the decoherence arising from the frequency fluctuations imposed by internal gradients. As a result, SDR presents a unique way of probing and characterizing these internal magnetic fields, given an a priori known free diffusion coefficient. This has important implications in studies of structured systems, including porous media and live tissues, where the internal gradients may serve as fingerprints for the system's composition or structure. The principles of this method, along with full analytical solutions for the unrestricted diffusion-driven modulation of the SDR signal, are presented. The potential of this approach is demonstrated with the generation of a novel source of MRI contrast, based on the background gradients active in an ex vivo mouse brain. Additional features and limitations of this new method are discussed.

In-medium jet evolution: interplay between broadening and decoherence effects. The XXVth International Conference on Ultrarelativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Apolinário, Liliana; Armesto, Néstor; Milhano, Guilherme; Salgado, Carlos A.

2016-12-01

The description of the modifications of the coherence pattern in a parton shower, in the presence of a QGP, has been actively addressed in recent studies. Among the several achievements, finite energy corrections, transverse momentum broadening due to medium interactions and interference effects between successive emissions have been extensively improved as they seem to be essential features for a correct description of the results obtained in heavy-ion collisions. In this work, based on the insights of our previous work [L. Apolinário, N. Armesto, J. G. Milhano, C. A. Salgado, Medium-induced gluon radiation and colour decoherence beyond the soft approximation, JHEP 1502 (2015) 119. arxiv:arXiv:1407.0599], we explore the physical interplay between broadening and decoherence, by generalising previous studies of medium-modifications of the antenna spectrum [Y. Mehtar-Tani, C. A. Salgado, K. Tywoniuk, Antiangular Ordering of Gluon Radiation in QCD Media, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106 (2011) 122002. arxiv:arXiv:1009.2965, J. Casalderrey-Solana, E. Iancu, Interference effects in medium-induced gluon radiation, JHEP 08 (2011) 015. arxiv:arXiv:1105.1760, Y. Mehtar-Tani, C. A. Salgado, K. Tywoniuk, The Radiation pattern of a QCD antenna in a dense medium, JHEP 10 (2012) 197. arxiv:arXiv:1205.5739] - so far restricted to the case where transverse motion is neglected. The result allow us to identify two quantities controlling the decoherence of a medium modified shower that can be used as building blocks for a successful future generation of jet quenching Monte Carlo simulators: a generalisation of the Δmed parameter of the works of [Y. Mehtar-Tani, C. A. Salgado, K. Tywoniuk, Antiangular Ordering of Gluon Radiation in QCD Media, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106 (2011) 122002. arxiv:arXiv:1009.2965, Y. Mehtar-Tani, C. A. Salgado, K. Tywoniuk, The Radiation pattern of a QCD antenna in a dense medium, JHEP 10 (2012) 197. arxiv:arXiv:1205.5739] - that controls the interplay between the transverse scale of the hard probe and the transverse resolution of the medium - and of the Δcoh in [L. Apolinário, N. Armesto, J. G. Milhano, C. A. Salgado, Medium-induced gluon radiation and colour decoherence beyond the soft approximation, JHEP 1502 (2015) 119. arxiv:arXiv:1407.0599] - that dictates the interferences between two emitters as a function of the transverse momentum broadening acquired by multiple scatterings with the medium.

A unitary model of the black hole evaporation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Yu-Lei; Chen, Yi-Xin

2014-12-01

A unitary effective field model of the black hole evaporation is proposed to satisfy almost the four postulates of the black hole complementarity (BHC). In this model, we enlarge a black hole-scalar field system by adding an extra radiation detector that couples with the scalar field. After performing a partial trace over the scalar field space, we obtain an effective entanglement between the black hole and the detector (or radiation in it). As the whole system evolves, the S-matrix formula can be constructed formally step by step. Without local quantum measurements, the paradoxes of the information loss and AMPS's firewall can be resolved. However, the information can be lost due to quantum decoherence, as long as some local measurement has been performed on the detector to acquire the information of the radiation in it. But unlike Hawking's completely thermal spectrum, some residual correlations can be found in the radiations. All these considerations can be simplified in a qubit model that provides a modified quantum teleportation to transfer the information via an EPR pairs.

Spatial-mode storage in a gradient-echo memory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Higginbottom, D. B.; Sparkes, B. M.; Rancic, M.; Pinel, O.; Hosseini, M.; Lam, P. K.; Buchler, B. C.

2012-08-01

Three-level atomic gradient echo memory (Λ-GEM) is a proposed candidate for efficient quantum storage and for linear optical quantum computation with time-bin multiplexing [Hosseini , Nature (London)NATUAS0028-083610.1038/nature08325 461, 241 (2009)]. In this paper we investigate the spatial multimode properties of a Λ-GEM system. Using a high-speed triggered CCD, we demonstrate the storage of complex spatial modes and images. We also present an in-principle demonstration of spatial multiplexing by showing selective recall of spatial elements of a stored spin wave. Using our measurements, we consider the effect of diffusion within the atomic vapor and investigate its role in spatial decoherence. Our measurements allow us to quantify the spatial distortion due to both diffusion and inhomogeneous control field scattering and compare these to theoretical models.

Non-Markovian quantum jumps in excitonic energy transfer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rebentrost, Patrick; Chakraborty, Rupak; Aspuru-Guzik, Alan

2009-01-01

We utilize the novel non-Markovian quantum jump (NMQJ) approach to stochastically simulate exciton dynamics derived from a time-convolutionless master equation. For relevant parameters and time scales, the time-dependent, oscillatory decoherence rates can have negative regions, a signature of non-Markovian behavior and of the revival of coherences. This can lead to non-Markovian population beatings for a dimer system at room temperature. We show that strong exciton-phonon coupling to low frequency modes can considerably modify transport properties. We observe increased excitontransport, which can be seen as an extension of recent environment-assisted quantum transport concepts to the non-Markovian regime. Within the NMQJ method,more » the Fenna–Matthew–Olson protein is investigated as a prototype for larger photosynthetic complexes.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shao Xiaoqiang; Wang Hongfu; Zhang Shou

We present an approach for implementation of a 1->3 orbital state quantum cloning machine based on the quantum Zeno dynamics via manipulating three rf superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) qubits to resonantly interact with a superconducting cavity assisted by classical fields. Through appropriate modulation of the coupling constants between rf SQUIDs and classical fields, the quantum cloning machine can be realized within one step. We also discuss the effects of decoherence such as spontaneous emission and the loss of cavity in virtue of master equation. The numerical simulation result reveals that the quantum cloning machine is especially robust against themore » cavity decay, since all qubits evolve in the decoherence-free subspace with respect to cavity decay due to the quantum Zeno dynamics.« less

Decoherence control mechanisms of a charged magneto-oscillator in contact with different environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajesh, Asam; Bandyopadhyay, Malay; Jayannavar, Arun M.

2017-12-01

In this work, we consider two different techniques based on reservoir engineering process and quantum Zeno control method to analyze the decoherence control mechanism of a charged magneto-oscillator in contact with different type of environment. Our analysis reveals that both the control mechanisms are very much sensitive on the details of different environmental spectrum (J (ω)), and also on different system and reservoir parameters, e.g., external magnetic field (rc), confinement length (r0), temperature (T), cut-off frequency of reservoir spectrum (ωcut), and measurement interval (τ). We also demonstrate the manipulation scheme of the continuous passage from decay suppression to decay acceleration by tuning the above mentioned system or reservoir parameters, e.g., rc, r0, T and τ.

Evolution equation for quantum coherence

PubMed Central

Hu, Ming-Liang; Fan, Heng

2016-01-01

The estimation of the decoherence process of an open quantum system is of both theoretical significance and experimental appealing. Practically, the decoherence can be easily estimated if the coherence evolution satisfies some simple relations. We introduce a framework for studying evolution equation of coherence. Based on this framework, we prove a simple factorization relation (FR) for the l1 norm of coherence, and identified the sets of quantum channels for which this FR holds. By using this FR, we further determine condition on the transformation matrix of the quantum channel which can support permanently freezing of the l1 norm of coherence. We finally reveal the universality of this FR by showing that it holds for many other related coherence and quantum correlation measures. PMID:27382933

Decoherence can relax cosmic acceleration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Markkanen, Tommi

In this work we investigate the semi-classical backreaction for a quantised conformal scalar field and classical vacuum energy. In contrast to the usual approximation of a closed system, our analysis includes an environmental sector such that a quantum-to-classical transition can take place. We show that when the system decoheres into a mixed state with particle number as the classical observable de Sitter space is destabilized, which is observable as a gradually decreasing Hubble rate. In particular we show that at late times this mechanism can drive the curvature of the Universe to zero and has an interpretation as the decaymore » of the vacuum energy demonstrating that quantum effects can be relevant for the fate of the Universe.« less

Optimal digital dynamical decoupling for general decoherence via Walsh modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qi, Haoyu; Dowling, Jonathan P.; Viola, Lorenza

2017-11-01

We provide a general framework for constructing digital dynamical decoupling sequences based on Walsh modulation—applicable to arbitrary qubit decoherence scenarios. By establishing equivalence between decoupling design based on Walsh functions and on concatenated projections, we identify a family of optimal Walsh sequences, which can be exponentially more efficient, in terms of the required total pulse number, for fixed cancellation order, than known digital sequences based on concatenated design. Optimal sequences for a given cancellation order are highly non-unique—their performance depending sensitively on the control path. We provide an analytic upper bound to the achievable decoupling error and show how sequences within the optimal Walsh family can substantially outperform concatenated decoupling in principle, while respecting realistic timing constraints.

Quantum correlation of high dimensional system in a dephasing environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Yinghua; Ke, Qiang; Hu, Juju

2018-05-01

For a high dimensional spin-S system embedded in a dephasing environment, we theoretically analyze the time evolutions of quantum correlation and entanglement via Frobenius norm and negativity. The quantum correlation dynamics can be considered as a function of the decoherence parameters, including the ratio between the system oscillator frequency ω0 and the reservoir cutoff frequency ωc , and the different environment temperature. It is shown that the quantum correlation can not only measure nonclassical correlation of the considered system, but also perform a better robustness against the dissipation. In addition, the decoherence presents the non-Markovian features and the quantum correlation freeze phenomenon. The former is much weaker than that in the sub-Ohmic or Ohmic thermal reservoir environment.

Dynamics of a Chlorophyll Dimer in Collective and Local Thermal Environments

DOE PAGES

Merkli, M.; Berman, Gennady Petrovich; Sayre, Richard Thomas; ...

2016-01-30

Here we present a theoretical analysis of exciton transfer and decoherence effects in a photosynthetic dimer interacting with collective (correlated) and local (uncorrelated) protein-solvent environments. Our approach is based on the framework of the spin-boson model. We derive explicitly the thermal relaxation and decoherence rates of the exciton transfer process, valid for arbitrary temperatures and for arbitrary (in particular, large) interaction constants between the dimer and the environments. We establish a generalization of the Marcus formula, giving reaction rates for dimer levels possibly individually and asymmetrically coupled to environments. We identify rigorously parameter regimes for the validity of the generalizedmore » Marcus formula. The existence of long living quantum coherences at ambient temperatures emerges naturally from our approach.« less

Amplification of Information by Photons and the Quantum Chernoff Bound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwolak, Michael; Riedel, C. Jess; Zurek, Wojciech H.

2014-03-01

Amplification was regarded, since the early days of quantum theory, as a mysterious ingredient that endows quantum microstates with macroscopic consequences, key to the ``collapse of the wavepacket,'' and a way to avoid embarrassing problems exemplified by Schrödinger's cat. This bridge between the quantum microworld and the classical world of our experience was postulated ad hoc in the Copenhagen Interpretation. Quantum Darwinism views amplification as replication, in many copies, of information about quantum states. We show that such amplification is a natural consequence of a broad class of models of decoherence, including the photon environment we use to obtain most of our information. The resultant amplification is huge, proportional to # ξQCB . Here, #  is the environment size and ξQCB is the ``typical'' Quantum Chernoff Information, which quantifies the efficiency of the amplification. The information communicated though the environment is imprinted in the states of individual environment subsystems, e.g., in single photons, which document the transfer of information into the environment and result in the emergence of the classical world. See, http://mike.zwolak.org

Quantum particles in general spacetimes: A tangent bundle formalism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wohlfarth, Mattias N. R.

2018-06-01

Using tangent bundle geometry we construct an equivalent reformulation of classical field theory on flat spacetimes which simultaneously encodes the perspectives of multiple observers. Its generalization to curved spacetimes realizes a new type of nonminimal coupling of the fields and is shown to admit a canonical quantization procedure. For the resulting quantum theory we demonstrate the emergence of a particle interpretation, fully consistent with general relativistic geometry. The path dependency of parallel transport forces each observer to carry their own quantum state; we find that the communication of the corresponding quantum information may generate extra particles on curved spacetimes. A speculative link between quantum information and spacetime curvature is discussed which might lead to novel explanations for quantum decoherence and vanishing interference in double-slit or interaction-free measurement scenarios, in the mere presence of additional observers.

Simulation of continuous variable quantum games without entanglement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Shang-Bin

2011-07-01

A simulation scheme of quantum version of Cournot's duopoly is proposed, in which there is a new Nash equilibrium that may also be Pareto optimal without any entanglement involved. The unique property of this simulation scheme is decoherence-free against the symmetric photon loss. Furthermore, we analyze the effects of the asymmetric information on this simulation scheme and investigate the case of asymmetric game caused by asymmetric photon loss. A second-order phase transition-like behavior of the average profits of firms 1 and 2 in a Nash equilibrium can be observed with the change of the degree of asymmetry of the information or the degree of 'virtual cooperation'. It is also found that asymmetric photon loss in this simulation scheme plays a similar role as that with the asymmetric entangled states in the quantum game.

Quantum information is physical

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DiVincenzo, D. P.; Loss, D.

1998-03-01

We discuss a few current developments in the use of quantum mechanically coherent systems for information processing. In each of these developments, Rolf Landauer has played a crucial role in nudging us, and other workers in the field, into asking the right questions, some of which we have been lucky enough to answer. A general overview of the key ideas of quantum error correction is given. We discuss how quantum entanglement is the key to protecting quantum states from decoherence in a manner which, in a theoretical sense, is as effective as the protection of digital data from bit noise. We also discuss five general criteria which must be satisfied to implement a quantum computer in the laboratory, and we illustrate the application of these criteria by discussing our ideas for creating a quantum computer out of the spin states of coupled quantum dots.

Direct Measurement of the Flip-Flop Rate of Electron Spins in the Solid State

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dikarov, Ekaterina; Zgadzai, Oleg; Artzi, Yaron; Blank, Aharon

2016-10-01

Electron spins in solids have a central role in many current and future spin-based devices, ranging from sensitive sensors to quantum computers. Many of these apparatuses rely on the formation of well-defined spin structures (e.g., a 2D array) with controlled and well-characterized spin-spin interactions. While being essential for device operation, these interactions can also result in undesirable effects, such as decoherence. Arguably, the most important pure quantum interaction that causes decoherence is known as the "flip-flop" process, where two interacting spins interchange their quantum state. Currently, for electron spins, the rate of this process can only be estimated theoretically, or measured indirectly, under limiting assumptions and approximations, via spin-relaxation data. This work experimentally demonstrates how the flip-flop rate can be directly and accurately measured by examining spin-diffusion processes in the solid state for physically fixed spins. Under such terms, diffusion can occur only through this flip-flop-mediated quantum-state exchange and not via actual spatial motion. Our approach is implemented on two types of samples, phosphorus-doped 28Si and nitrogen vacancies in diamond, both of which are significantly relevant to quantum sensors and information processing. However, while the results for the former sample are conclusive and reveal a flip-flop rate of approximately 12.3 Hz, for the latter sample only an upper limit of approximately 0.2 Hz for this rate can be estimated.

Efficient tools for quantum metrology with uncorrelated noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kołodyński, Jan; Demkowicz-Dobrzański, Rafał

2013-07-01

Quantum metrology offers enhanced performance in experiments on topics such as gravitational wave-detection, magnetometry or atomic clock frequency calibration. The enhancement, however, requires a delicate tuning of relevant quantum features, such as entanglement or squeezing. For any practical application, the inevitable impact of decoherence needs to be taken into account in order to correctly quantify the ultimate attainable gain in precision. We compare the applicability and the effectiveness of various methods of calculating the ultimate precision bounds resulting from the presence of decoherence. This allows us to place a number of seemingly unrelated concepts into a common framework and arrive at an explicit hierarchy of quantum metrological methods in terms of the tightness of the bounds they provide. In particular, we show a way to extend the techniques originally proposed in Demkowicz-Dobrzański et al (2012 Nature Commun. 3 1063), so that they can be efficiently applied not only in the asymptotic but also in the finite number of particles regime. As a result, we obtain a simple and direct method, yielding bounds that interpolate between the quantum enhanced scaling characteristic for a small number of particles and the asymptotic regime, where quantum enhancement amounts to a constant factor improvement. Methods are applied to numerous models, including noisy phase and frequency estimation, as well as the estimation of the decoherence strength itself.

Timeless Configuration Space and the Emergence of Classical Behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomes, Henrique

2018-06-01

The inherent difficulty in talking about quantum decoherence in the context of quantum cosmology is that decoherence requires subsystems, and cosmology is the study of the whole Universe. Consistent histories gave a possible answer to this conundrum, by phrasing decoherence as loss of interference between alternative histories of closed systems. When one can apply Boolean logic to a set of histories, it is deemed `consistent'. However, the vast majority of the sets of histories that are merely consistent are blatantly nonclassical in other respects, and further constraints than just consistency need to be invoked. In this paper, I attempt to give an alternative answer to the issues faced by consistent histories, by exploring a timeless interpretation of quantum mechanics of closed systems. This is done solely in terms of path integrals in non-relativistic, timeless, configuration space. What prompts a fresh look at such foundational problems in this context is the advent of multiple gravitational models in which Lorentz symmetry is not fundamental, but only emergent. And what allows this approach to overcome previous barriers to a timeless, conditional probabilities interpretation of quantum mechanics is the new notion of records—made possible by an inherent asymmetry of configuration space. I outline and explore consequences of this approach for foundational issues of quantum mechanics, such as the natural emergence of the Born rule, conservation of probabilities, and the Sleeping Beauty paradox.

Decoherence, discord, and the quantum master equation for cosmological perturbations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hollowood, Timothy J.; McDonald, Jamie I.

2017-05-01

We examine environmental decoherence of cosmological perturbations in order to study the quantum-to-classical transition and the impact of noise on entanglement during inflation. Given an explicit interaction between the system and environment, we derive a quantum master equation for the reduced density matrix of perturbations, drawing parallels with quantum Brownian motion, where we see the emergence of fluctuation and dissipation terms. Although the master equation is not in Lindblad form, we see how typical solutions exhibit positivity on super-horizon scales, leading to a physically meaningful density matrix. This allows us to write down a Langevin equation with stochastic noise for the classical trajectories which emerge from the quantum system on super-horizon scales. In particular, we find that environmental decoherence increases in strength as modes exit the horizon, with the growth driven essentially by white noise coming from local contributions to environmental correlations. Finally, we use our master equation to quantify the strength of quantum correlations as captured by discord. We show that environmental interactions have a tendency to decrease the size of the discord and that these effects are determined by the relative strength of the expansion rate and interaction rate of the environment. We interpret this in terms of the competing effects of particle creation versus environmental fluctuations, which tend to increase and decrease the discord respectively.

Continuous quantum error correction for non-Markovian decoherence

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oreshkov, Ognyan; Brun, Todd A.; Communication Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089

2007-08-15

We study the effect of continuous quantum error correction in the case where each qubit in a codeword is subject to a general Hamiltonian interaction with an independent bath. We first consider the scheme in the case of a trivial single-qubit code, which provides useful insights into the workings of continuous error correction and the difference between Markovian and non-Markovian decoherence. We then study the model of a bit-flip code with each qubit coupled to an independent bath qubit and subject to continuous correction, and find its solution. We show that for sufficiently large error-correction rates, the encoded state approximatelymore » follows an evolution of the type of a single decohering qubit, but with an effectively decreased coupling constant. The factor by which the coupling constant is decreased scales quadratically with the error-correction rate. This is compared to the case of Markovian noise, where the decoherence rate is effectively decreased by a factor which scales only linearly with the rate of error correction. The quadratic enhancement depends on the existence of a Zeno regime in the Hamiltonian evolution which is absent in purely Markovian dynamics. We analyze the range of validity of this result and identify two relevant time scales. Finally, we extend the result to more general codes and argue that the performance of continuous error correction will exhibit the same qualitative characteristics.« less

Physics at the FQMT'11 conference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Špička, V.; Nieuwenhuizen, Th M.; Keefe, P. D.

2012-11-01

This paper deals with the recent state of the art of the following topics presented at the FQMT'11 conference: foundations of quantum physics, quantum measurement; nonequilibrium quantum statistical physics; quantum thermodynamics; quantum measurement, entanglement and coherence; dissipation, dephasing, noise, and decoherence; quantum optics; macroscopic quantum behavior; e.g. cold atoms; Bose-Einstein condensates; physics of quantum computing and quantum information; mesoscopic, nano-electro-mechanical systems and nano-optical systems; spin systems and their dynamics; biological systems and molecular motors; and cosmology, gravitation and astrophysics. The lectures and discussions at the FQMT'11 conference, as well as the contributions to the related topical issue, reveal important themes for future development. The recent literature is included.

Stabilizing coherence with nested environments: a numerical study using kicked Ising models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

González-Gutiérrez, C.; Villaseñor, E.; Pineda, C.; Seligman, T. H.

2016-08-01

We study a tripartite system of coupled spins, where a first set of one or two spins is our central system which is coupled to another set considered, the near environment, in turn coupled to the third set, the far environment. The dynamics considered are those of a generalized kicked spin chain in the regime of quantum chaotic dynamics. This allows us to test recent results that suggest that the presence of a far environment, coupled to the near environment, slows decoherence of the central system. After an extensive numerical study, we confirm previous results for extreme values and special cases. In particular, under a wide variety of circumstances an increasing coupling between near and far environment, slows decoherence, as measured by purity, and protects internal entanglement.

Environment-induced decoherence II. Effect of decoherence on Bell's inequality for an EPR pair

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venugopalan, A.; Kumar, Deepak; Ghosh, R.

1995-02-01

According to Bell's theorem, the degree of correlation between spatially separated measurements on a quantum system is limited by certain inequalities if one assumes the condition of locality. Quantum mechanics predicts that this limit can be exceeded, making it nonlocal. We analyse the effect of an environment modelled by a fluctuating magnetic field on the quantum correlations in an EPR singlet as seen in the Bell inequality. We show that in an EPR setup, the system goes from the usual ‘violation’ of Bell's inequality to a ‘non-violation’ for times larger than a characteristic time scale which is related to the parameters of the fluctuating field. We also look at these inequalities as a function of the spatial separation between the EPR pair.

Creation of ultracold molecules within the lifetime scale by direct implementation of an optical frequency comb

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Gengyuan; Malinovskaya, S. A.

2018-06-01

A method is proposed to create molecules in the ultracold state from the Feshbach molecules by stepwise adiabatic passage using an optical frequency comb without losses due to decoherence. An emphasis is made on the impact of the vibrational state manifold on controllability of the coherent dynamics by including five excited states into the model. The results are compared with recently reported results on a three-level ? system. Sinusoidal modulation across an individual pulse in the pulse train is applied, leading to the creation of a quasi-dark state, which minimizes population of the transitional, vibrational state manifold, and efficiently mitigates decoherence in the system. The parity of the temporal chirp is shown to be an important factor in designing population dynamics in the system.

Decoherence-free emergence of macroscopic local realism for entangled photons in a cavity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Portolan, S.; Rossi, F.; Di Stefano, O.

2006-02-15

We investigate the influence of environmental noise on polarization entangled light generated by parametric emission in a cavity. By adopting a recent separability criterion, we show that (i) self-stimulation may suppress the detrimental influence of noise on entanglement, but (ii) once it becomes effective, a noise-equipped classical model of parametric emission provides the same results of quantum theory with respect to the separability criterion. More generally we also show that, in the macroscopic limit, it is not possible to observe violations of local realism with measurements of finite order n-particle correlations only. These results provide a prototypical case of themore » emergence of macroscopic local realism in the presence of strong entanglement even in the absence of decoherence.« less

Interference of qubits in pure dephasing and almost pure dephasing environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Łobejko, Marcin; Mierzejewski, Marcin; Dajka, Jerzy

2015-07-01

Two-path interference of quantum particles with internal spin (qubits) interacting on one arm of the interferometer with bosonic environment is studied. It is assumed that the energy exchange between the qubit and its environment is either absent, which is a pure dephasing (decoherence) model, or very weak. Both the amplitude and the position of maximum of an output intensity discussed as a function of a phase shift can serve as a quantifier of parameters describing coupling between qubit and its environment. The time evolution of the qubit-environment system is analyzed in the Schrödinger picture and the output intensity for qubit-environment interaction close to pure decoherence is analyzed by means of perturbation theory. Quality of the applied approximation is verified by comparison with numerical results.

Extremal Optimization for estimation of the error threshold in topological subsystem codes at T = 0

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Millán-Otoya, Jorge E.; Boettcher, Stefan

2014-03-01

Quantum decoherence is a problem that arises in implementations of quantum computing proposals. Topological subsystem codes (TSC) have been suggested as a way to overcome decoherence. These offer a higher optimal error tolerance when compared to typical error-correcting algorithms. A TSC has been translated into a planar Ising spin-glass with constrained bimodal three-spin couplings. This spin-glass has been considered at finite temperature to determine the phase boundary between the unstable phase and the stable phase, where error recovery is possible.[1] We approach the study of the error threshold problem by exploring ground states of this spin-glass with the Extremal Optimization algorithm (EO).[2] EO has proven to be a effective heuristic to explore ground state configurations of glassy spin-systems.[3

Quasiparticle spin resonance and coherence in superconducting aluminium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quay, C. H. L.; Weideneder, M.; Chiffaudel, Y.; Strunk, C.; Aprili, M.

2015-10-01

Conventional superconductors were long thought to be spin inert; however, there is now increasing interest in both (the manipulation of) the internal spin structure of the ground-state condensate, as well as recently observed long-lived, spin-polarized excitations (quasiparticles). We demonstrate spin resonance in the quasiparticle population of a mesoscopic superconductor (aluminium) using novel on-chip microwave detection techniques. The spin decoherence time obtained (~100 ps), and its dependence on the sample thickness are consistent with Elliott-Yafet spin-orbit scattering as the main decoherence mechanism. The striking divergence between the spin coherence time and the previously measured spin imbalance relaxation time (~10 ns) suggests that the latter is limited instead by inelastic processes. This work stakes out new ground for the nascent field of spin-based electronics with superconductors or superconducting spintronics.

Quantum Time Evolution in a Qubit Readout Process with a Josephson Bifurcation Amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakano, Hayato; Saito, Shiro; Semba, Kouichi; Takayanagi, Hideaki

2009-06-01

We analyzed the Josephson bifurcation amplifier (JBA) readout process of a superconducting qubit quantum mechanically by calculating the dynamics of the density operator of a driven nonlinear oscillator and a qubit coupled system during the measurement process. In purely quantum cases, bifurcation is impossible. Introducing decoherence enables us to reproduce the bifurcation with a finite hysteresis. When a qubit is initially in a superposition state, we have observed the qubit-probe (JBA) entangled state, and it is divided into two separable states at the moment the JBA transition begins. This corresponds to “projection.” To readout the measurement result, however, we must wait until the two JBA states are macroscopically well separated. The waiting time is determined by the strength of the decoherence in the JBA.

Remote state preparation through hyperentangled atomic states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nawaz, Mehwish; ul-Islam, Rameez-; Ikram, Manzoor

2018-04-01

Hyperentangled states have enhanced channel capacity in quantum processing and have yielded` evident increased communication speed in quantum informatics as a consequence of excessively high information content coded over each quantum entity. In the present article, we intend to demonstrate this fact by utilizing atomic states simultaneously entangled both in internal as well as external degrees of freedom, i.e. the de Broglie motion for remote state preparation (RSP). The results clearly demonstrate that we can efficiently communicate two bit information while manipulating only a single quantum subsystem. The states are prepared and manipulated using atomic Bragg diffraction as well as Ramsey interferometry, both of which are now considered as standard, state of the art tools based on cavity quantum electrodynamics. Since atomic Bragg diffraction is a large interaction time regime and produces spatially well separated, decoherence resistant outputs, the schematics presented here for the RSP offer important perspectives on efficient detection as well as unambiguous information coding and readout. The article summarizes the experimental feasibility of the proposal, culminating with a brief discussion.

Experimental Optimal Single Qubit Purification in an NMR Quantum Information Processor

PubMed Central

Hou, Shi-Yao; Sheng, Yu-Bo; Feng, Guan-Ru; Long, Gui-Lu

2014-01-01

High quality single qubits are the building blocks in quantum information processing. But they are vulnerable to environmental noise. To overcome noise, purification techniques, which generate qubits with higher purities from qubits with lower purities, have been proposed. Purifications have attracted much interest and been widely studied. However, the full experimental demonstration of an optimal single qubit purification protocol proposed by Cirac, Ekert and Macchiavello [Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 4344 (1999), the CEM protocol] more than one and half decades ago, still remains an experimental challenge, as it requires more complicated networks and a higher level of precision controls. In this work, we design an experiment scheme that realizes the CEM protocol with explicit symmetrization of the wave functions. The purification scheme was successfully implemented in a nuclear magnetic resonance quantum information processor. The experiment fully demonstrated the purification protocol, and showed that it is an effective way of protecting qubits against errors and decoherence. PMID:25358758

On the accuracy of the LSC-IVR approach for excitation energy transfer in molecular aggregates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teh, Hung-Hsuan; Cheng, Yuan-Chung

2017-04-01

We investigate the applicability of the linearized semiclassical initial value representation (LSC-IVR) method to excitation energy transfer (EET) problems in molecular aggregates by simulating the EET dynamics of a dimer model in a wide range of parameter regime and comparing the results to those obtained from a numerically exact method. It is found that the LSC-IVR approach yields accurate population relaxation rates and decoherence rates in a broad parameter regime. However, the classical approximation imposed by the LSC-IVR method does not satisfy the detailed balance condition, generally leading to incorrect equilibrium populations. Based on this observation, we propose a post-processing algorithm to solve the long time equilibrium problem and demonstrate that this long-time correction method successfully removed the deviations from exact results for the LSC-IVR method in all of the regimes studied in this work. Finally, we apply the LSC-IVR method to simulate EET dynamics in the photosynthetic Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex system, demonstrating that the LSC-IVR method with long-time correction provides excellent description of coherent EET dynamics in this typical photosynthetic pigment-protein complex.

A self-interfering clock as a “which path” witness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Margalit, Yair; Zhou, Zhifan; Machluf, Shimon; Rohrlich, Daniel; Japha, Yonathan; Folman, Ron

2015-09-01

In Einstein’s general theory of relativity, time depends locally on gravity; in standard quantum theory, time is global—all clocks “tick” uniformly. We demonstrate a new tool for investigating time in the overlap of these two theories: a self-interfering clock, comprising two atomic spin states. We prepare the clock in a spatial superposition of quantum wave packets, which evolve coherently along two paths into a stable interference pattern. If we make the clock wave packets “tick” at different rates, to simulate a gravitational time lag, the clock time along each path yields “which path” information, degrading the pattern’s visibility. In contrast, in standard interferometry, time cannot yield “which path” information. This proof-of-principle experiment may have implications for the study of time and general relativity and their impact on fundamental effects such as decoherence and the emergence of a classical world.

Long-lasting quantum memories: Extending the coherence time of superconducting artificial atoms in the ultrastrong-coupling regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stassi, Roberto; Nori, Franco

2018-03-01

Quantum systems are affected by interactions with their environments, causing decoherence through two processes: pure dephasing and energy relaxation. For quantum information processing it is important to increase the coherence time of Josephson qubits and other artificial two-level atoms. We show theoretically that if the coupling between these qubits and a cavity field is longitudinal and in the ultrastrong-coupling regime, the system is strongly protected against relaxation. Vice versa, if the coupling is transverse and in the ultrastrong-coupling regime, the system is protected against pure dephasing. Taking advantage of the relaxation suppression, we show that it is possible to enhance their coherence time and use these qubits as quantum memories. Indeed, to preserve the coherence from pure dephasing, we prove that it is possible to apply dynamical decoupling. We also use an auxiliary atomic level to store and retrieve quantum information.

A self-interfering clock as a "which path" witness.

PubMed

Margalit, Yair; Zhou, Zhifan; Machluf, Shimon; Rohrlich, Daniel; Japha, Yonathan; Folman, Ron

2015-09-11

In Einstein's general theory of relativity, time depends locally on gravity; in standard quantum theory, time is global-all clocks "tick" uniformly. We demonstrate a new tool for investigating time in the overlap of these two theories: a self-interfering clock, comprising two atomic spin states. We prepare the clock in a spatial superposition of quantum wave packets, which evolve coherently along two paths into a stable interference pattern. If we make the clock wave packets "tick" at different rates, to simulate a gravitational time lag, the clock time along each path yields "which path" information, degrading the pattern's visibility. In contrast, in standard interferometry, time cannot yield "which path" information. This proof-of-principle experiment may have implications for the study of time and general relativity and their impact on fundamental effects such as decoherence and the emergence of a classical world. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Millisecond coherence time in a tunable molecular electronic spin qubit [An unprecedented coherence time in a tunable molecular V(IV) electronic spin qubit

DOE PAGES

Zadrozny, Joseph M.; Niklas, Jens; Poluektov, Oleg G.; ...

2015-12-02

Here, quantum information processing (QIP) could revolutionize areas ranging from chemical modeling to cryptography. One key figure of merit for the smallest unit for QIP, the qubit, is the coherence time ( T 2), which establishes the lifetime for the qubit. Transition metal complexes offer tremendous potential as tunable qubits, yet their development is hampered by the absence of synthetic design principles to achieve a long T 2. We harnessed molecular design to create a series of qubits, (Ph 4P) 2[V(C 8S 8) 3] (1), (Ph 4P) 2[V(β-C 3S 5) 3] (2), (Ph 4P) 2[V(α-C 3S 5) 3] (3), andmore » (Ph 4P) 2[V(C 3S 4O) 3] (4), with T 2s of 1–4 μs at 80 K in protiated and deuterated environments. Crucially, through chemical tuning of nuclear spin content in the vanadium(IV) environment we realized a T 2 of ~1 ms for the species ( d 20-Ph 4P) 2[V(C 8S 8) 3] in CS 2, a value that surpasses the coordination complex record by an order of magnitude. This value even eclipses some prominent solid-state qubits. Electrochemical and continuous wave electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) data reveal variation in the electronic influence of the ligands on the metal ion across 1–4. However, pulsed measurements indicate that the most important influence on decoherence is nuclear spins in the protiated and deuterated solvents utilized herein. Our results illuminate a path forward in synthetic design principles, which should unite CS 2 solubility with nuclear spin free ligand fields to develop a new generation of molecular qubits.« less

Suppression of quantum decoherence via infrared-driven coherent exciton-plasmon coupling: Undamped field and Rabi oscillations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sadeghi, S. M., E-mail: seyed.sadeghi@uah.edu; Nano and Micro Device Center, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama 35899; Patty, K. D.

2014-02-24

We show that when a semiconductor quantum dot is in the vicinity of a metallic nanoparticle and driven by a mid-infrared laser field, its coherent dynamics caused by interaction with a visible laser field can become free of quantum decoherence. We demonstrate that this process, which can offer undamped Rabi and field oscillations, is the result of coherent normalization of the “effective” polarization dephasing time of the quantum dot (T{sub 2}{sup *}). This process indicates formation of infrared-induced coherently forced oscillations, which allows us to control the value of T{sub 2}{sup *} using the infrared laser. The results offer decay-freemore » ultrafast modulation of the effective field experienced by the quantum dot when neither the visible laser field nor the infrared laser changes with time.« less

The Birth and Death of Redundancy in Decoherence and Quantum Darwinism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riedel, Charles; Zurek, Wojciech; Zwolak, Michael

2012-02-01

Understanding the quantum-classical transition and the identification of a preferred classical domain through quantum Darwinism is based on recognizing high-redundancy states as both ubiquitous and exceptional. They are produced ubiquitously during decoherence, as has been demonstrated by the recent identification of very general conditions under which high-redundancy states develop. They are exceptional in that high-redundancy states occupy a very narrow corner of the global Hilbert space; states selected at random are overwelming likely to exhibit zero redundancy. In this letter, we examine the conditions and time scales for the transition from high-redundancy states to zero-redundancy states in many-body dynamics. We identify sufficient condition for the development of redundancy from product states and show that the destruction of redundancy can be accomplished even with highly constrained interactions.

The Role of Quantum Decoherence in FRET.

PubMed

Nelson, Philip C

2018-02-16

Resonance energy transfer has become an indispensable experimental tool for single-molecule and single-cell biophysics. Its physical underpinnings, however, are subtle: it involves a discrete jump of excitation from one molecule to another, and so we regard it as a strongly quantum-mechanical process. And yet its kinetics differ from what many of us were taught about two-state quantum systems, quantum superpositions of the states do not seem to arise, and so on. Although J. R. Oppenheimer and T. Förster navigated these subtleties successfully, it remains hard to find an elementary derivation in modern language. The key step involves acknowledging quantum decoherence. Appreciating that aspect can be helpful when we attempt to extend our understanding to situations in which Förster's original analysis is not applicable. Copyright © 2018 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dissipatively Stabilized Quantum Sensor Based on Indirect Nuclear-Nuclear Interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Q.; Schwarz, I.; Plenio, M. B.

2017-07-01

We propose to use a dissipatively stabilized nitrogen vacancy (NV) center as a mediator of interaction between two nuclear spins that are protected from decoherence and relaxation of the NV due to the periodical resets of the NV center. Under ambient conditions this scheme achieves highly selective high-fidelity quantum gates between nuclear spins in a quantum register even at large NV-nuclear distances. Importantly, this method allows for the use of nuclear spins as a sensor rather than a memory, while the NV spin acts as an ancillary system for the initialization and readout of the sensor. The immunity to the decoherence and relaxation of the NV center leads to a tunable sharp frequency filter while allowing at the same time the continuous collection of the signal to achieve simultaneously high spectral selectivity and high signal-to-noise ratio.

Decoherence and Fidelity in Teleportation of Coherent Photon-Added Two-Mode Squeezed Thermal States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Heng-Mei; Yuan, Hong-Chun; Wan, Zhi-Long; Wang, Zhen

2018-04-01

We theoretically introduce a kind of non-Gaussian entangled resources, i.e., coherent photon-added two-mode squeezed thermal states (CPA-TMSTS), by successively performing coherent photon addition operation to the two-mode squeezed thermal states. The normalization factor related to bivariate Hermite polynomials is obtained. Based upon it, the nonclassicality and decoherence process are analyzed by virtue of the Wigner function. It is shown that the coherent photon addition operation is an effective way in generating partial negative values of Wigner function, which clearly manifests the nonclassicality and non-Gaussianity of the target states. Additionally, the fidelity in teleporting coherent states using CPA-TMSTS as entangled resource is quantified both analytically and numerically. It is found that the CPA-TMSTS is an entangled resource of high-efficiency and high-fidelity in quantum teleportation.

Generalized shortcuts to adiabaticity and enhanced robustness against decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, Alan C.; Sarandy, Marcelo S.

2018-01-01

Shortcuts to adiabaticity provide a general approach to mimic adiabatic quantum processes via arbitrarily fast evolutions in Hilbert space. For these counter-diabatic evolutions, higher speed comes at higher energy cost. Here, the counter-diabatic theory is employed as a minimal energy demanding scheme for speeding up adiabatic tasks. As a by-product, we show that this approach can be used to obtain infinite classes of transitionless models, including time-independent Hamiltonians under certain conditions over the eigenstates of the original Hamiltonian. We apply these results to investigate shortcuts to adiabaticity in decohering environments by introducing the requirement of a fixed energy resource. In this scenario, we show that generalized transitionless evolutions can be more robust against decoherence than their adiabatic counterparts. We illustrate this enhanced robustness both for the Landau-Zener model and for quantum gate Hamiltonians.

Classical Limit and Quantum Logic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Losada, Marcelo; Fortin, Sebastian; Holik, Federico

2018-02-01

The analysis of the classical limit of quantum mechanics usually focuses on the state of the system. The general idea is to explain the disappearance of the interference terms of quantum states appealing to the decoherence process induced by the environment. However, in these approaches it is not explained how the structure of quantum properties becomes classical. In this paper, we consider the classical limit from a different perspective. We consider the set of properties of a quantum system and we study the quantum-to-classical transition of its logical structure. The aim is to open the door to a new study based on dynamical logics, that is, logics that change over time. In particular, we appeal to the notion of hybrid logics to describe semiclassical systems. Moreover, we consider systems with many characteristic decoherence times, whose sublattices of properties become distributive at different times.

Quasiparticle spin resonance and coherence in superconducting aluminium.

PubMed

Quay, C H L; Weideneder, M; Chiffaudel, Y; Strunk, C; Aprili, M

2015-10-26

Conventional superconductors were long thought to be spin inert; however, there is now increasing interest in both (the manipulation of) the internal spin structure of the ground-state condensate, as well as recently observed long-lived, spin-polarized excitations (quasiparticles). We demonstrate spin resonance in the quasiparticle population of a mesoscopic superconductor (aluminium) using novel on-chip microwave detection techniques. The spin decoherence time obtained (∼100 ps), and its dependence on the sample thickness are consistent with Elliott-Yafet spin-orbit scattering as the main decoherence mechanism. The striking divergence between the spin coherence time and the previously measured spin imbalance relaxation time (∼10 ns) suggests that the latter is limited instead by inelastic processes. This work stakes out new ground for the nascent field of spin-based electronics with superconductors or superconducting spintronics.

Quasiparticle spin resonance and coherence in superconducting aluminium

PubMed Central

Quay, C. H. L.; Weideneder, M.; Chiffaudel, Y.; Strunk, C.; Aprili, M.

2015-01-01

Conventional superconductors were long thought to be spin inert; however, there is now increasing interest in both (the manipulation of) the internal spin structure of the ground-state condensate, as well as recently observed long-lived, spin-polarized excitations (quasiparticles). We demonstrate spin resonance in the quasiparticle population of a mesoscopic superconductor (aluminium) using novel on-chip microwave detection techniques. The spin decoherence time obtained (∼100 ps), and its dependence on the sample thickness are consistent with Elliott–Yafet spin–orbit scattering as the main decoherence mechanism. The striking divergence between the spin coherence time and the previously measured spin imbalance relaxation time (∼10 ns) suggests that the latter is limited instead by inelastic processes. This work stakes out new ground for the nascent field of spin-based electronics with superconductors or superconducting spintronics. PMID:26497744

Mitigating leakage errors due to cavity modes in a superconducting quantum computer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McConkey, T. G.; Béjanin, J. H.; Earnest, C. T.; McRae, C. R. H.; Pagel, Z.; Rinehart, J. R.; Mariantoni, M.

2018-07-01

A practical quantum computer requires quantum bit (qubit) operations with low error probabilities in extensible architectures. We study a packaging method that makes it possible to address hundreds of superconducting qubits by means of coaxial Pogo pins. A qubit chip is housed in a superconducting box, where both box and chip dimensions lead to unwanted modes that can interfere with qubit operations. We analyze these interference effects in the context of qubit coherent leakage and qubit decoherence induced by damped modes. We propose two methods, half-wave fencing and antinode pinning, to mitigate the resulting errors by detuning the resonance frequency of the modes from the qubit frequency. We perform electromagnetic field simulations indicating that the resonance frequency of the modes increases with the number of installed pins and can be engineered to be significantly higher than the highest qubit frequency. We estimate that the error probabilities and decoherence rates due to suitably shifted modes in realistic scenarios can be up to two orders of magnitude lower than the state-of-the-art superconducting qubit error and decoherence rates. Our methods can be extended to different types of packages that do not rely on Pogo pins. Conductive bump bonds, for example, can serve the same purpose in qubit architectures based on flip chip technology. Metalized vias, instead, can be used to mitigate modes due to the increasing size of the dielectric substrate on which qubit arrays are patterned.

Interpreting quantum coherence through a quantum measurement process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Yao; Dong, G. H.; Xiao, Xing; Li, Mo; Sun, C. P.

2017-11-01

Recently, there has been a renewed interest in the quantification of coherence or other coherencelike concepts within the framework of quantum resource theory. However, rigorously defined or not, the notion of coherence or decoherence has already been used by the community for decades since the advent of quantum theory. Intuitively, the definitions of coherence and decoherence should be two sides of the same coin. Therefore, a natural question is raised: How can the conventional decoherence processes, such as the von Neumann-Lüders (projective) measurement postulation or partially dephasing channels, fit into the bigger picture of the recently established theoretical framework? Here we show that the state collapse rules of the von Neumann or Lüders-type measurements, as special cases of genuinely incoherent operations (GIOs), are consistent with the resource theories of quantum coherence. New hierarchical measures of coherence are proposed for the Lüders-type measurement and their relationship with measurement-dependent discord is addressed. Moreover, utilizing the fixed-point theory for C* algebra, we prove that GIOs indeed represent a particular type of partially dephasing (phase-damping) channels which have a matrix representation based on the Schur product. By virtue of the Stinespring dilation theorem, the physical realizations of incoherent operations are investigated in detail and we find that GIOs in fact constitute the core of strictly incoherent operations and generally incoherent operations and the unspeakable notion of coherence induced by GIOs can be transferred to the theories of speakable coherence by the corresponding permutation or relabeling operators.

Mesoscopic fluctuations in biharmonically driven flux qubits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrón, Alejandro; Domínguez, Daniel; Sánchez, María José

2017-01-01

We investigate flux qubits driven by a biharmonic magnetic signal, with a phase lag that acts as an effective time reversal broken parameter. The driving induced transition rate between the ground and the excited state of the flux qubit can be thought of as an effective transmittance, profiting from a direct analogy between interference effects at avoided level crossings and scattering events in disordered electronic systems. For time scales prior to full relaxation, but large compared to the decoherence time, this characteristic rate has been accessed experimentally by Gustavsson et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 016603 (2013)], 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.016603 and its sensitivity with both the phase lag and the dc flux detuning explored. In this way, signatures of universal conductance fluctuationslike effects have been analyzed and compared with predictions from a phenomenological model that only accounts for decoherence, as a classical noise. Here we go beyond the classical noise model and solve the full dynamics of the driven flux qubit in contact with a quantum bath employing the Floquet-Born-Markov master equation. Within this formalism, the computed relaxation and decoherence rates turn out to be strongly dependent on both the phase lag and the dc flux detuning. Consequently, the associated pattern of fluctuations in the characteristic rates display important differences with those obtained within the mentioned phenomenological model. In particular, we demonstrate the weak localizationlike effect in the average values of the relaxation rate. Our predictions can be tested for accessible but longer time scales than the current experimental times.

Preserving electron spin coherence in solids by optimal dynamical decoupling.

PubMed

Du, Jiangfeng; Rong, Xing; Zhao, Nan; Wang, Ya; Yang, Jiahui; Liu, R B

2009-10-29

To exploit the quantum coherence of electron spins in solids in future technologies such as quantum computing, it is first vital to overcome the problem of spin decoherence due to their coupling to the noisy environment. Dynamical decoupling, which uses stroboscopic spin flips to give an average coupling to the environment that is effectively zero, is a particularly promising strategy for combating decoherence because it can be naturally integrated with other desired functionalities, such as quantum gates. Errors are inevitably introduced in each spin flip, so it is desirable to minimize the number of control pulses used to realize dynamical decoupling having a given level of precision. Such optimal dynamical decoupling sequences have recently been explored. The experimental realization of optimal dynamical decoupling in solid-state systems, however, remains elusive. Here we use pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance to demonstrate experimentally optimal dynamical decoupling for preserving electron spin coherence in irradiated malonic acid crystals at temperatures from 50 K to room temperature. Using a seven-pulse optimal dynamical decoupling sequence, we prolonged the spin coherence time to about 30 mus; it would otherwise be about 0.04 mus without control or 6.2 mus under one-pulse control. By comparing experiments with microscopic theories, we have identified the relevant electron spin decoherence mechanisms in the solid. Optimal dynamical decoupling may be applied to other solid-state systems, such as diamonds with nitrogen-vacancy centres, and so lay the foundation for quantum coherence control of spins in solids at room temperature.

Deterministic transfer of an unknown qutrit state assisted by the low-Q microwave resonators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Tong; Zhang, Yang; Yu, Chang-Shui; Zhang, Wei-Ning

2017-05-01

Qutrits (i.e., three-level quantum systems) can be used to achieve many quantum information and communication tasks due to their large Hilbert spaces. In this work, we propose a scheme to transfer an unknown quantum state between two flux qutrits coupled to two superconducting coplanar waveguide resonators. The quantum state transfer can be deterministically achieved without measurements. Because resonator photons are virtually excited during the operation time, the decoherences caused by the resonator decay and the unwanted inter-resonator crosstalk are greatly suppressed. Moreover, our approach can be adapted to other solid-state qutrits coupled to circuit resonators. Numerical simulations show that the high-fidelity transfer of quantum state between the two qutrits is feasible with current circuit QED technology.

Quantum-state anomaly detection for arbitrary errors using a machine-learning technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hara, Satoshi; Ono, Takafumi; Okamoto, Ryo; Washio, Takashi; Takeuchi, Shigeki

2016-10-01

The accurate detection of small deviations in given density matrice is important for quantum information processing, which is a difficult task because of the intrinsic fluctuation in density matrices reconstructed using a limited number of experiments. We previously proposed a method for decoherence error detection using a machine-learning technique [S. Hara, T. Ono, R. Okamoto, T. Washio, and S. Takeuchi, Phys. Rev. A 89, 022104 (2014), 10.1103/PhysRevA.89.022104]. However, the previous method is not valid when the errors are just changes in phase. Here, we propose a method that is valid for arbitrary errors in density matrices. The performance of the proposed method is verified using both numerical simulation data and real experimental data.

Error budgeting single and two qubit gates in a superconducting qubit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Z.; Chiaro, B.; Dunsworth, A.; Foxen, B.; Neill, C.; Quintana, C.; Wenner, J.; Martinis, John. M.; Google Quantum Hardware Team Team

Superconducting qubits have shown promise as a platform for both error corrected quantum information processing and demonstrations of quantum supremacy. High fidelity quantum gates are crucial to achieving both of these goals, and superconducting qubits have demonstrated two qubit gates exceeding 99% fidelity. In order to improve gate fidelity further, we must understand the remaining sources of error. In this talk, I will demonstrate techniques for quantifying the contributions of control, decoherence, and leakage to gate error, for both single and two qubit gates. I will also discuss the near term outlook for achieving quantum supremacy using a gate-based approach in superconducting qubits. This work is supported Google Inc., and by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE 1605114.

Bounds on quantum communication via Newtonian gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kafri, D.; Milburn, G. J.; Taylor, J. M.

2015-01-01

Newtonian gravity yields specific observable consequences, the most striking of which is the emergence of a 1/{{r}2} force. In so far as communication can arise via such interactions between distant particles, we can ask what would be expected for a theory of gravity that only allows classical communication. Many heuristic suggestions for gravity-induced decoherence have this restriction implicitly or explicitly in their construction. Here we show that communication via a 1/{{r}2} force has a minimum noise induced in the system when the communication cannot convey quantum information, in a continuous time analogue to Bell's inequalities. Our derived noise bounds provide tight constraints from current experimental results on any theory of gravity that does not allow quantum communication.

Linear Optics Simulation of Quantum Non-Markovian Dynamics

PubMed Central

Chiuri, Andrea; Greganti, Chiara; Mazzola, Laura; Paternostro, Mauro; Mataloni, Paolo

2012-01-01

The simulation of open quantum dynamics has recently allowed the direct investigation of the features of system-environment interaction and of their consequences on the evolution of a quantum system. Such interaction threatens the quantum properties of the system, spoiling them and causing the phenomenon of decoherence. Sometimes however a coherent exchange of information takes place between system and environment, memory effects arise and the dynamics of the system becomes non-Markovian. Here we report the experimental realisation of a non-Markovian process where system and environment are coupled through a simulated transverse Ising model. By engineering the evolution in a photonic quantum simulator, we demonstrate the role played by system-environment correlations in the emergence of memory effects. PMID:23236588

Coherent Oscillations inside a Quantum Manifold Stabilized by Dissipation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Touzard, S.; Grimm, A.; Leghtas, Z.; Mundhada, S. O.; Reinhold, P.; Axline, C.; Reagor, M.; Chou, K.; Blumoff, J.; Sliwa, K. M.; Shankar, S.; Frunzio, L.; Schoelkopf, R. J.; Mirrahimi, M.; Devoret, M. H.

2018-04-01

Manipulating the state of a logical quantum bit (qubit) usually comes at the expense of exposing it to decoherence. Fault-tolerant quantum computing tackles this problem by manipulating quantum information within a stable manifold of a larger Hilbert space, whose symmetries restrict the number of independent errors. The remaining errors do not affect the quantum computation and are correctable after the fact. Here we implement the autonomous stabilization of an encoding manifold spanned by Schrödinger cat states in a superconducting cavity. We show Zeno-driven coherent oscillations between these states analogous to the Rabi rotation of a qubit protected against phase flips. Such gates are compatible with quantum error correction and hence are crucial for fault-tolerant logical qubits.

String order parameters for one-dimensional Floquet symmetry protected topological phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Ajesh; Dumitrescu, Philipp T.; Potter, Andrew C.

2018-06-01

Floquet symmetry protected topological (FSPT) phases are nonequilibrium topological phases enabled by time-periodic driving. FSPT phases of one-dimensional (1D) chains of bosons, spins, or qubits host dynamically protected edge states that can store quantum information without decoherence, making them promising for use as quantum memories. While FSPT order cannot be detected by any local measurement, here we construct nonlocal string order parameters that directly measure general 1D FSPT order. We propose a superconducting-qubit array based realization of the simplest Ising FSPT phase, which can be implemented with existing quantum computing hardware. We devise an interferometric scheme to directly measure the nonlocal string order using only simple one- and two-qubit operations and single-qubit measurements.

Demonstration of a memory for tightly guided light in an optical nanofiber.

PubMed

Gouraud, B; Maxein, D; Nicolas, A; Morin, O; Laurat, J

2015-05-08

We report the experimental observation of slow-light and coherent storage in a setting where light is tightly confined in the transverse directions. By interfacing a tapered optical nanofiber with a cold atomic ensemble, electromagnetically induced transparency is observed and light pulses at the single-photon level are stored in and retrieved from the atomic medium. The decay of efficiency with storage time is also measured and related to concurrent decoherence mechanisms. Collapses and revivals can be additionally controlled by an applied magnetic field. Our results based on subdiffraction-limited optical mode interacting with atoms via the strong evanescent field demonstrate an alternative to free-space focusing and a novel capability for information storage in an all-fibered quantum network.

Exact stochastic unraveling of an optical coherence dynamics by cumulant expansion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olšina, Jan; Kramer, Tobias; Kreisbeck, Christoph; Mančal, Tomáš

2014-10-01

A numerically exact Monte Carlo scheme for calculation of open quantum system dynamics is proposed and implemented. The method consists of a Monte Carlo summation of a perturbation expansion in terms of trajectories in Liouville phase-space with respect to the coupling between the excited states of the molecule. The trajectories are weighted by a complex decoherence factor based on the second-order cumulant expansion of the environmental evolution. The method can be used with an arbitrary environment characterized by a general correlation function and arbitrary coupling strength. It is formally exact for harmonic environments, and it can be used with arbitrary temperature. Time evolution of an optically excited Frenkel exciton dimer representing a molecular exciton interacting with a charge transfer state is calculated by the proposed method. We calculate the evolution of the optical coherence elements of the density matrix and linear absorption spectrum, and compare them with the predictions of standard simulation methods.

Broadband Phase Spectroscopy over Turbulent Air Paths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giorgetta, Fabrizio R.; Rieker, Gregory B.; Baumann, Esther; Swann, William C.; Sinclair, Laura C.; Kofler, Jon; Coddington, Ian; Newbury, Nathan R.

2015-09-01

Broadband atmospheric phase spectra are acquired with a phase-sensitive dual-frequency-comb spectrometer by implementing adaptive compensation for the strong decoherence from atmospheric turbulence. The compensation is possible due to the pistonlike behavior of turbulence across a single spatial-mode path combined with the intrinsic frequency stability and high sampling speed associated with dual-comb spectroscopy. The atmospheric phase spectrum is measured across 2 km of air at each of the 70 000 comb teeth spanning 233 cm-1 across hundreds of near-infrared rovibrational resonances of CO2 , CH4 , and H2O with submilliradian uncertainty, corresponding to a 10-13 refractive index sensitivity. Trace gas concentrations extracted directly from the phase spectrum reach 0.7 ppm uncertainty, demonstrated here for CO2 . While conventional broadband spectroscopy only measures intensity absorption, this approach enables measurement of the full complex susceptibility even in practical open path sensing.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abdel-Khalek, S., E-mail: sayedquantum@yahoo.co.uk; The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Strada Costiera 11, Miramare-Trieste; Berrada, K.

The dynamics of a superconducting (SC) qubit interacting with a field under decoherence with and without time-dependent coupling effect is analyzed. Quantum features like the collapse–revivals for the dynamics of population inversion, sudden birth and sudden death of entanglement, and statistical properties are investigated under the phase damping effect. Analytic results for certain parametric conditions are obtained. We analyze the influence of decoherence on the negativity and Wehrl entropy for different values of the physical parameters. We also explore an interesting relation between the SC-field entanglement and Wehrl entropy behavior during the time evolution. We show that the amount ofmore » SC-field entanglement can be enhanced as the field tends to be more classical. The studied model of SC-field system with the time-dependent coupling has high practical importance due to their experimental accessibility which may open new perspectives in different tasks of quantum formation processing.« less

Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, quantum decoherence and amplitude modulation in mesoscopic InGaAs/InAlAs rings.

PubMed

Ren, S L; Heremans, J J; Gaspe, C K; Vijeyaragunathan, S; Mishima, T D; Santos, M B

2013-10-30

Low-temperature Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in the magnetoresistance of mesoscopic interferometric rings patterned on an InGaAs/InAlAs heterostructure are investigated for their dependence on excitation current and temperature. The rings have an average radius of 650 nm, and a lithographic arm width of 300 nm, yielding pronounced interference oscillations over a wide range of magnetic fields. Apart from a current and temperature dependence, the oscillation amplitude also shows a quasi-periodic modulation with applied magnetic field. The phase coherence length is extracted by analysis of the fundamental and higher Fourier components of the oscillations, and by direct analysis of the amplitude and its dependence on parameters. It is concluded that the Thouless energy forms the measure of excitation energies for quantum decoherence. The amplitude modulation finds an explanation in the effect of the magnetic flux threading the finite width of the interferometer arms.

The rise and fall of redundancy in decoherence and quantum Darwinism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jess Riedel, C.; Zurek, Wojciech H.; Zwolak, Michael

2012-08-01

A state selected at random from the Hilbert space of a many-body system is overwhelmingly likely to exhibit highly non-classical correlations. For these typical states, half of the environment must be measured by an observer to determine the state of a given subsystem. The objectivity of classical reality—the fact that multiple observers can agree on the state of a subsystem after measuring just a small fraction of its environment—implies that the correlations found in nature between macroscopic systems and their environments are exceptional. Building on previous studies of quantum Darwinism showing that highly redundant branching states are produced ubiquitously during pure decoherence, we examine the conditions needed for the creation of branching states and study their demise through many-body interactions. We show that even constrained dynamics can suppress redundancy to the values typical of random states on relaxation timescales, and prove that these results hold exactly in the thermodynamic limit.

Cavity QED implementation of non-adiabatic holonomies for universal quantum gates in decoherence-free subspaces with nitrogen-vacancy centers.

PubMed

Zhou, Jian; Yu, Wei-Can; Gao, Yu-Mei; Xue, Zheng-Yuan

2015-06-01

A cavity QED implementation of the non-adiabatic holonomic quantum computation in decoherence-free subspaces is proposed with nitrogen-vacancy centers coupled commonly to the whispering-gallery mode of a microsphere cavity, where a universal set of quantum gates can be realized on the qubits. In our implementation, with the assistant of the appropriate driving fields, the quantum evolution is insensitive to the cavity field state, which is only virtually excited. The implemented non-adiabatic holonomies, utilizing optical transitions in the Λ type of three-level configuration of the nitrogen-vacancy centers, can be used to construct a universal set of quantum gates on the encoded logical qubits. Therefore, our scheme opens up the possibility of realizing universal holonomic quantum computation with cavity assisted interaction on solid-state spins characterized by long coherence times.

Temperature dependence of long coherence times of oxide charge qubits.

PubMed

Dey, A; Yarlagadda, S

2018-02-22

The ability to maintain coherence and control in a qubit is a major requirement for quantum computation. We show theoretically that long coherence times can be achieved at easily accessible temperatures (such as boiling point of liquid helium) in small (i.e., ~10 nanometers) charge qubits of oxide double quantum dots when only optical phonons are the source of decoherence. In the regime of strong electron-phonon coupling and in the non-adiabatic region, we employ a duality transformation to make the problem tractable and analyze the dynamics through a non-Markovian quantum master equation. We find that the system decoheres after a long time, despite the fact that no energy is exchanged with the bath. Detuning the dots to a fraction of the optical phonon energy, increasing the electron-phonon coupling, reducing the adiabaticity, or decreasing the temperature enhances the coherence time.

Efficient entanglement distillation without quantum memory.

PubMed

Abdelkhalek, Daniela; Syllwasschy, Mareike; Cerf, Nicolas J; Fiurášek, Jaromír; Schnabel, Roman

2016-05-31

Entanglement distribution between distant parties is an essential component to most quantum communication protocols. Unfortunately, decoherence effects such as phase noise in optical fibres are known to demolish entanglement. Iterative (multistep) entanglement distillation protocols have long been proposed to overcome decoherence, but their probabilistic nature makes them inefficient since the success probability decays exponentially with the number of steps. Quantum memories have been contemplated to make entanglement distillation practical, but suitable quantum memories are not realised to date. Here, we present the theory for an efficient iterative entanglement distillation protocol without quantum memories and provide a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration. The scheme is applied to phase-diffused two-mode-squeezed states and proven to distil entanglement for up to three iteration steps. The data are indistinguishable from those that an efficient scheme using quantum memories would produce. Since our protocol includes the final measurement it is particularly promising for enhancing continuous-variable quantum key distribution.

Efficient entanglement distillation without quantum memory

PubMed Central

Abdelkhalek, Daniela; Syllwasschy, Mareike; Cerf, Nicolas J.; Fiurášek, Jaromír; Schnabel, Roman

2016-01-01

Entanglement distribution between distant parties is an essential component to most quantum communication protocols. Unfortunately, decoherence effects such as phase noise in optical fibres are known to demolish entanglement. Iterative (multistep) entanglement distillation protocols have long been proposed to overcome decoherence, but their probabilistic nature makes them inefficient since the success probability decays exponentially with the number of steps. Quantum memories have been contemplated to make entanglement distillation practical, but suitable quantum memories are not realised to date. Here, we present the theory for an efficient iterative entanglement distillation protocol without quantum memories and provide a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration. The scheme is applied to phase-diffused two-mode-squeezed states and proven to distil entanglement for up to three iteration steps. The data are indistinguishable from those that an efficient scheme using quantum memories would produce. Since our protocol includes the final measurement it is particularly promising for enhancing continuous-variable quantum key distribution. PMID:27241946

High-efficient entanglement distillation from photon loss and decoherence.

PubMed

Wang, Tie-Jun; Wang, Chuan

2015-11-30

We illustrate an entanglement distillation protocol (EDP) for a mixed photon-ensemble which composed of four kinds of entangled states and vacuum states. Exploiting the linear optics and local entanglement resource (four-qubit entangled GHZ state), we design the nondemolition parity-checking and qubit amplifying (PCQA) setup for photonic polarization degree of freedom which are the key device of our scheme. With the PCQA setup, a high-fidelity entangled photon-pair system can be achieved against the transmission losses and the decoherence in noisy channels. And in the available purification range for our EDP, the fidelity of this ensemble can be improved to the maximal value through iterated operations. Compared to the conventional entanglement purification schemes, our scheme largely reduces the initialization requirement of the distilled mixed quantum system, and overcomes the difficulties posed by inherent channel losses during photon transmission. All these advantages make this scheme more useful in the practical applications of long-distance quantum communication.

Probing the density of states of two-level tunneling systems in silicon oxide films using superconducting lumped element resonators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Skacel, S. T.; Institut für Mikro- und Nanoelektronische Systeme, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Hertzstraße 16, D-76187 Karlsruhe; Kaiser, Ch.

2015-01-12

We have investigated dielectric losses in amorphous silicon oxide (a-SiO) thin films under operating conditions of superconducting qubits (mK temperatures and low microwave powers). For this purpose, we have developed a broadband measurement setup employing multiplexed lumped element resonators using a broadband power combiner and a low-noise amplifier. The measured temperature and power dependences of the dielectric losses are in good agreement with those predicted for atomic two-level tunneling systems (TLS). By measuring the losses at different frequencies, we found that the TLS density of states is energy dependent. This had not been seen previously in loss measurements. These resultsmore » contribute to a better understanding of decoherence effects in superconducting qubits and suggest a possibility to minimize TLS-related decoherence by reducing the qubit operation frequency.« less

Quantum entanglement in de Sitter space with a wall and the decoherence of bubble universes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albrecht, Andreas; Kanno, Sugumi; Sasaki, Misao

2018-04-01

We study the effect of a bubble wall on the entanglement entropy of a free massive scalar field between two causally disconnected open charts in de Sitter space. We assume there is a delta-functional wall between the open charts. This can be thought of as a model of pair creation of bubble universes in de Sitter space. We first derive the Euclidean vacuum mode functions of the scalar field in the presence of the wall in the coordinates that respect the open charts. We then derive the Bogoliubov transformation between the Euclidean vacuum and the open chart vacua that makes the reduced density matrix diagonal. We find that larger walls lead to less entanglement. Our result may be regarded as evidence of decoherence of bubble universes from each other. We also note an interesting relationship between our results and discussions of the black hole firewall problem.

The elusive Heisenberg limit in quantum-enhanced metrology

PubMed Central

Demkowicz-Dobrzański, Rafał; Kołodyński, Jan; Guţă, Mădălin

2012-01-01

Quantum precision enhancement is of fundamental importance for the development of advanced metrological optical experiments, such as gravitational wave detection and frequency calibration with atomic clocks. Precision in these experiments is strongly limited by the 1/√N shot noise factor with N being the number of probes (photons, atoms) employed in the experiment. Quantum theory provides tools to overcome the bound by using entangled probes. In an idealized scenario this gives rise to the Heisenberg scaling of precision 1/N. Here we show that when decoherence is taken into account, the maximal possible quantum enhancement in the asymptotic limit of infinite N amounts generically to a constant factor rather than quadratic improvement. We provide efficient and intuitive tools for deriving the bounds based on the geometry of quantum channels and semi-definite programming. We apply these tools to derive bounds for models of decoherence relevant for metrological applications including: depolarization, dephasing, spontaneous emission and photon loss. PMID:22990859

Unforgeable Noise-Tolerant Quantum Tokens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Norman; Pastawski, Fernando; Jiang, Liang; Lukin, Mikhail; Cirac, Ignacio

2012-06-01

The realization of devices which harness the laws of quantum mechanics represents an exciting challenge at the interface of modern technology and fundamental science. An exemplary paragon of the power of such quantum primitives is the concept of ``quantum money.'' A dishonest holder of a quantum bank-note will invariably fail in any forging attempts; indeed, under assumptions of ideal measurements and decoherence-free memories such security is guaranteed by the no-cloning theorem. In any practical situation, however, noise, decoherence and operational imperfections abound. Thus, the development of secure ``quantum money''-type primitives capable of tolerating realistic infidelities is of both practical and fundamental importance. Here, we propose a novel class of such protocols and demonstrate their tolerance to noise; moreover, we prove their rigorous security by determining tight fidelity thresholds. Our proposed protocols require only the ability to prepare, store and measure single qubit quantum memories, making their experimental realization accessible with current technologies.

Determination of the atmospheric neutrino flux and searches for new physics with AMANDA-II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbasi, R.; Abdou, Y.; Ackermann, M.; Adams, J.; Ahlers, M.; Andeen, K.; Auffenberg, J.; Bai, X.; Baker, M.; Barwick, S. W.; Bay, R.; Bazo Alba, J. L.; Beattie, K.; Bechet, S.; Becker, J. K.; Becker, K.-H.; Benabderrahmane, M. L.; Berdermann, J.; Berghaus, P.; Berley, D.; Bernardini, E.; Bertrand, D.; Besson, D. Z.; Bissok, M.; Blaufuss, E.; Boersma, D. J.; Bohm, C.; Bolmont, J.; Böser, S.; Botner, O.; Bradley, L.; Braun, J.; Breder, D.; Burgess, T.; Castermans, T.; Chirkin, D.; Christy, B.; Clem, J.; Cohen, S.; Cowen, D. F.; D'Agostino, M. V.; Danninger, M.; Day, C. T.; de Clercq, C.; Demirörs, L.; Depaepe, O.; Descamps, F.; Desiati, P.; de Vries-Uiterweerd, G.; De Young, T.; Diaz-Velez, J. C.; Dreyer, J.; Dumm, J. P.; Duvoort, M. R.; Edwards, W. R.; Ehrlich, R.; Eisch, J.; Ellsworth, R. W.; Engdegård, O.; Euler, S.; Evenson, P. A.; Fadiran, O.; Fazely, A. R.; Feusels, T.; Filimonov, K.; Finley, C.; Foerster, M. M.; Fox, B. D.; Franckowiak, A.; Franke, R.; Gaisser, T. K.; Gallagher, J.; Ganugapati, R.; Gerhardt, L.; Gladstone, L.; Goldschmidt, A.; Goodman, J. A.; Gozzini, R.; Grant, D.; Griesel, T.; Groß, A.; Grullon, S.; Gunasingha, R. M.; Gurtner, M.; Ha, C.; Hallgren, A.; Halzen, F.; Han, K.; Hanson, K.; Hasegawa, Y.; Heise, J.; Helbing, K.; Herquet, P.; Hickford, S.; Hill, G. C.; Hoffman, K. D.; Hoshina, K.; Hubert, D.; Huelsnitz, W.; Hülß, J.-P.; Hulth, P. O.; Hultqvist, K.; Hussain, S.; Imlay, R. L.; Inaba, M.; Ishihara, A.; Jacobsen, J.; Japaridze, G. S.; Johansson, H.; Joseph, J. M.; Kampert, K.-H.; Kappes, A.; Karg, T.; Karle, A.; Kelley, J. L.; Kenny, P.; Kiryluk, J.; Kislat, F.; Klein, S. R.; Klepser, S.; Knops, S.; Kohnen, G.; Kolanoski, H.; Köpke, L.; Kowalski, M.; Kowarik, T.; Krasberg, M.; Kuehn, K.; Kuwabara, T.; Labare, M.; Laihem, K.; Landsman, H.; Lauer, R.; Leich, H.; Lennarz, D.; Lucke, A.; Lundberg, J.; Lünemann, J.; Madsen, J.; Majumdar, P.; Maruyama, R.; Mase, K.; Matis, H. S.; McParland, C. P.; Meagher, K.; Merck, M.; Mészáros, P.; Middell, E.; Milke, N.; Miyamoto, H.; Mohr, A.; Montaruli, T.; Morse, R.; Movit, S. M.; Münich, K.; Nahnhauer, R.; Nam, J. W.; Nießen, P.; Nygren, D. R.; Odrowski, S.; Olivas, A.; Olivo, M.; Ono, M.; Panknin, S.; Patton, S.; Pérez de Los Heros, C.; Petrovic, J.; Piegsa, A.; Pieloth, D.; Pohl, A. C.; Porrata, R.; Potthoff, N.; Price, P. B.; Prikockis, M.; Przybylski, G. T.; Rawlins, K.; Redl, P.; Resconi, E.; Rhode, W.; Ribordy, M.; Rizzo, A.; Rodrigues, J. P.; Roth, P.; Rothmaier, F.; Rott, C.; Roucelle, C.; Rutledge, D.; Ryckbosch, D.; Sander, H.-G.; Sarkar, S.; Satalecka, K.; Schlenstedt, S.; Schmidt, T.; Schneider, D.; Schukraft, A.; Schulz, O.; Schunck, M.; Seckel, D.; Semburg, B.; Seo, S. H.; Sestayo, Y.; Seunarine, S.; Silvestri, A.; Slipak, A.; Spiczak, G. M.; Spiering, C.; Stanev, T.; Stephens, G.; Stezelberger, T.; Stokstad, R. G.; Stoufer, M. C.; Stoyanov, S.; Strahler, E. A.; Straszheim, T.; Sulanke, K.-H.; Sullivan, G. W.; Swillens, Q.; Taboada, I.; Tarasova, O.; Tepe, A.; Ter-Antonyan, S.; Terranova, C.; Tilav, S.; Tluczykont, M.; Toale, P. A.; Tosi, D.; Turčan, D.; van Eijndhoven, N.; Vandenbroucke, J.; van Overloop, A.; Voigt, B.; Walck, C.; Waldenmaier, T.; Walter, M.; Wendt, C.; Westerhoff, S.; Whitehorn, N.; Wiebusch, C. H.; Wiedemann, A.; Wikström, G.; Williams, D. R.; Wischnewski, R.; Wissing, H.; Woschnagg, K.; Xu, X. W.; Yodh, G.; Yoshida, S.

2009-05-01

The AMANDA-II detector, operating since 2000 in the deep ice at the geographic South Pole, has accumulated a large sample of atmospheric muon neutrinos in the 100 GeV to 10 TeV energy range. The zenith angle and energy distribution of these events can be used to search for various phenomenological signatures of quantum gravity in the neutrino sector, such as violation of Lorentz invariance or quantum decoherence. Analyzing a set of 5511 candidate neutrino events collected during 1387 days of livetime from 2000 to 2006, we find no evidence for such effects and set upper limits on violation of Lorentz invariance and quantum decoherence parameters using a maximum likelihood method. Given the absence of evidence for new flavor-changing physics, we use the same methodology to determine the conventional atmospheric muon neutrino flux above 100 GeV.

Microscopic theory of energy dissipation and decoherence in open systems: A quantum Fermi's golden rule

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taj, D.; Iotti, R. C.; Rossi, F.

2009-11-01

We shall revisit the conventional adiabatic or Markov approximation, which — contrary to the semiclassical case- does not preserve the positive-definite character of the corresponding density matrix, thus leading to highly non-physical results. To overcome this serious limitation, originally addressed by Davies and co-workers almost three decades ago, we shall propose an alternative more general adiabatic procedure, able to provide a reliable/robust treatment of energy-dissipation and dephasing processes in electronic quantum devices. Unlike standard master-equation formulations, our procedure guarantees a positive evolution for a variety of physical subsystem (including the common partial trace), and quantum scattering rates are well defined even for subsystems with internal structure/ continuous energy spectrum. We shall compare the proposed Markov dissipation model with the conventional one also through basic simulations of energy-relaxation versus decoherence channels in prototypical semiconductor nanodevices.

Recyclable amplification for single-photon entanglement from photon loss and decoherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Lan; Chen, Ling-Quan; Zhong, Wei; Sheng, Yu-Bo

2018-01-01

We put forward a highly efficient recyclable single-photon assisted amplification protocol, which can protect single-photon entanglement (SPE) from photon loss and decoherence. Making use of quantum nondemolition detection gates constructed with the help of cross-Kerr nonlinearity, our protocol has some attractive advantages. First, the parties can recover less-entangled SPE to be maximally entangled SPE, and reduce photon loss simultaneously. Second, if the protocol fails, the parties can repeat the protocol to reuse some discarded items, which can increase the success probability. Third, when the protocol is successful, they can similarly repeat the protocol to further increase the fidelity of the SPE. Thereby, our protocol provides a possible way to obtain high entanglement, high fidelity and high success probability simultaneously. In particular, our protocol shows higher success probability in the practical high photon loss channel. Based on the above features, our amplification protocol has potential for future application in long-distance quantum communication.

Using quantum process tomography to characterize decoherence in an analog electronic device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ostrove, Corey; La Cour, Brian; Lanham, Andrew; Ott, Granville

The mathematical structure of a universal gate-based quantum computer can be emulated faithfully on a classical electronic device using analog signals to represent a multi-qubit state. We describe a prototype device capable of performing a programmable sequence of single-qubit and controlled two-qubit gate operations on a pair of voltage signals representing the real and imaginary parts of a two-qubit quantum state. Analog filters and true-RMS voltage measurements are used to perform unitary and measurement gate operations. We characterize the degradation of the represented quantum state with successive gate operations by formally performing quantum process tomography to estimate the equivalent decoherence channel. Experimental measurements indicate that the performance of the device may be accurately modeled as an equivalent quantum operation closely resembling a depolarizing channel with a fidelity of over 99%. This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research under Grant No. N00014-14-1-0323.

Reverse engineering of a Hamiltonian by designing the evolution operators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Yi-Hao; Chen, Ye-Hong; Wu, Qi-Cheng; Huang, Bi-Hua; Xia, Yan; Song, Jie

2016-07-01

We propose an effective and flexible scheme for reverse engineering of a Hamiltonian by designing the evolution operators to eliminate the terms of Hamiltonian which are hard to be realized in practice. Different from transitionless quantum driving (TQD), the present scheme is focus on only one or parts of moving states in a D-dimension (D ≥ 3) system. The numerical simulation shows that the present scheme not only contains the results of TQD, but also has more free parameters, which make this scheme more flexible. An example is given by using this scheme to realize the population transfer for a Rydberg atom. The influences of various decoherence processes are discussed by numerical simulation and the result shows that the scheme is fast and robust against the decoherence and operational imperfection. Therefore, this scheme may be used to construct a Hamiltonian which can be realized in experiments.

Dissipative time-dependent quantum transport theory: Quantum interference and phonon induced decoherence dynamics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Yu, E-mail: zhy@yangtze.hku.hk; Chen, GuanHua, E-mail: ghc@everest.hku.hk; Yam, ChiYung

2015-04-28

A time-dependent inelastic electron transport theory for strong electron-phonon interaction is established via the equations of motion method combined with the small polaron transformation. In this work, the dissipation via electron-phonon coupling is taken into account in the strong coupling regime, which validates the small polaron transformation. The corresponding equations of motion are developed, which are used to study the quantum interference effect and phonon-induced decoherence dynamics in molecular junctions. Numerical studies show clearly quantum interference effect of the transport electrons through two quasi-degenerate states with different couplings to the leads. We also found that the quantum interference can bemore » suppressed by the electron-phonon interaction where the phase coherence is destroyed by phonon scattering. This indicates the importance of electron-phonon interaction in systems with prominent quantum interference effect.« less

Determination of the atmospheric neutrino flux and searches for new physics with AMANDA-II

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abbasi, R.; Andeen, K.; Baker, M.

2009-05-15

The AMANDA-II detector, operating since 2000 in the deep ice at the geographic South Pole, has accumulated a large sample of atmospheric muon neutrinos in the 100 GeV to 10 TeV energy range. The zenith angle and energy distribution of these events can be used to search for various phenomenological signatures of quantum gravity in the neutrino sector, such as violation of Lorentz invariance or quantum decoherence. Analyzing a set of 5511 candidate neutrino events collected during 1387 days of livetime from 2000 to 2006, we find no evidence for such effects and set upper limits on violation of Lorentzmore » invariance and quantum decoherence parameters using a maximum likelihood method. Given the absence of evidence for new flavor-changing physics, we use the same methodology to determine the conventional atmospheric muon neutrino flux above 100 GeV.« less

Error Mitigation for Short-Depth Quantum Circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Temme, Kristan; Bravyi, Sergey; Gambetta, Jay M.

2017-11-01

Two schemes are presented that mitigate the effect of errors and decoherence in short-depth quantum circuits. The size of the circuits for which these techniques can be applied is limited by the rate at which the errors in the computation are introduced. Near-term applications of early quantum devices, such as quantum simulations, rely on accurate estimates of expectation values to become relevant. Decoherence and gate errors lead to wrong estimates of the expectation values of observables used to evaluate the noisy circuit. The two schemes we discuss are deliberately simple and do not require additional qubit resources, so to be as practically relevant in current experiments as possible. The first method, extrapolation to the zero noise limit, subsequently cancels powers of the noise perturbations by an application of Richardson's deferred approach to the limit. The second method cancels errors by resampling randomized circuits according to a quasiprobability distribution.

Ultra-fast relaxation, decoherence, and localization of photoexcited states in π-conjugated polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mannouch, Jonathan R.; Barford, William; Al-Assam, Sarah

2018-01-01

The exciton relaxation dynamics of photoexcited electronic states in poly(p-phenylenevinylene) are theoretically investigated within a coarse-grained model, in which both the exciton and nuclear degrees of freedom are treated quantum mechanically. The Frenkel-Holstein Hamiltonian is used to describe the strong exciton-phonon coupling present in the system, while external damping of the internal nuclear degrees of freedom is accounted for by a Lindblad master equation. Numerically, the dynamics are computed using the time evolving block decimation and quantum jump trajectory techniques. The values of the model parameters physically relevant to polymer systems naturally lead to a separation of time scales, with the ultra-fast dynamics corresponding to energy transfer from the exciton to the internal phonon modes (i.e., the C-C bond oscillations), while the longer time dynamics correspond to damping of these phonon modes by the external dissipation. Associated with these time scales, we investigate the following processes that are indicative of the system relaxing onto the emissive chromophores of the polymer: (1) Exciton-polaron formation occurs on an ultra-fast time scale, with the associated exciton-phonon correlations present within half a vibrational time period of the C-C bond oscillations. (2) Exciton decoherence is driven by the decay in the vibrational overlaps associated with exciton-polaron formation, occurring on the same time scale. (3) Exciton density localization is driven by the external dissipation, arising from "wavefunction collapse" occurring as a result of the system-environment interactions. Finally, we show how fluorescence anisotropy measurements can be used to investigate the exciton decoherence process during the relaxation dynamics.

A phase coherence approach to estimating the spatial extent of earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hawthorne, Jessica C.; Ampuero, Jean-Paul

2016-04-01

We present a new method for estimating the spatial extent of seismic sources. The approach takes advantage of an inter-station phase coherence computation that can identify co-located sources (Hawthorne and Ampuero, 2014). Here, however, we note that the phase coherence calculation can eliminate the Green's function and give high values only if both earthquakes are point sources---if their dimensions are much smaller than the wavelengths of the propagating seismic waves. By examining the decrease in coherence at higher frequencies (shorter wavelengths), we can estimate the spatial extents of the earthquake ruptures. The approach can to some extent be seen as a simple way of identifying directivity or variations in the apparent source time functions recorded at various stations. We apply this method to a set of well-recorded earthquakes near Parkfield, CA. We show that when the signal to noise ratio is high, the phase coherence remains high well above 50 Hz for closely spaced M<1.5 earthquake. The high-frequency phase coherence is smaller for larger earthquakes, suggesting larger spatial extents. The implied radii scale roughly as expected from typical magnitude-corner frequency scalings. We also examine a second source of high-frequency decoherence: spatial variation in the shape of the Green's functions. This spatial decoherence appears to occur on a similar wavelengths as the decoherence associated with the apparent source time functions. However, the variation in Green's functions can be normalized away to some extent by comparing observations at multiple components on a single station, which see the same apparent source time functions.

Quantum Control of Open Systems and Dense Atomic Ensembles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DiLoreto, Christopher

Controlling the dynamics of open quantum systems; i.e. quantum systems that decohere because of interactions with the environment, is an active area of research with many applications in quantum optics and quantum computation. My thesis expands the scope of this inquiry by seeking to control open systems in proximity to an additional system. The latter could be a classical system such as metal nanoparticles, or a quantum system such as a cluster of similar atoms. By modelling the interactions between the systems, we are able to expand the accessible state space of the quantum system in question. For a single, three-level quantum system, I examine isolated systems that have only normal spontaneous emission. I then show that intensity-intensity correlation spectra, which depend directly on the density matrix of the system, can be used detect whether transitions share a common energy level. This detection is possible due to the presence of quantum interference effects between two transitions if they are connected. This effect allows one to asses energy level structure diagrams in complex atoms/molecules. By placing an open quantum system near a nanoparticle dimer, I show that the spontaneous emission rate of the system can be changed "on demand" by changing the polarization of an incident, driving field. In a three-level, Lambda system, this allows a qubit to both retain high qubit fidelity when it is operating, and to be rapidly initialized to a pure state once it is rendered unusable by decoherence. This type of behaviour is not possible in a single open quantum system; therefore adding a classical system nearby extends the overall control space of the quantum system. An open quantum system near identical neighbours in a dense ensemble is another example of how the accessible state space can be expanded. I show that a dense ensemble of atoms rapidly becomes disordered with states that are not directly excited by an incident field becoming significantly populated. This effect motivates the need for using multi-directional basis sets in theoretical analysis of dense quantum systems. My results demonstrate the shortcomings of short-pulse techniques used in many recent studies. Based on my numerical studies, I hypothesize that the dense ensemble can be modelled by an effective single quantum system that has a decoherence rate that changes over time. My effective single particle model provides a way in which computational time can be reduced, and also a model in which the underlying physical processes involved in the system's evolution are much easier to understand. I then use this model to provide an elegant theoretical explanation for an unusual experimental result called "transverse optical magnetism''. My effective single particle model's predictions match very well with experimental data.

Quantum Error Correction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lidar, Daniel A.; Brun, Todd A.

2013-09-01

Prologue; Preface; Part I. Background: 1. Introduction to decoherence and noise in open quantum systems Daniel Lidar and Todd Brun; 2. Introduction to quantum error correction Dave Bacon; 3. Introduction to decoherence-free subspaces and noiseless subsystems Daniel Lidar; 4. Introduction to quantum dynamical decoupling Lorenza Viola; 5. Introduction to quantum fault tolerance Panos Aliferis; Part II. Generalized Approaches to Quantum Error Correction: 6. Operator quantum error correction David Kribs and David Poulin; 7. Entanglement-assisted quantum error-correcting codes Todd Brun and Min-Hsiu Hsieh; 8. Continuous-time quantum error correction Ognyan Oreshkov; Part III. Advanced Quantum Codes: 9. Quantum convolutional codes Mark Wilde; 10. Non-additive quantum codes Markus Grassl and Martin Rötteler; 11. Iterative quantum coding systems David Poulin; 12. Algebraic quantum coding theory Andreas Klappenecker; 13. Optimization-based quantum error correction Andrew Fletcher; Part IV. Advanced Dynamical Decoupling: 14. High order dynamical decoupling Zhen-Yu Wang and Ren-Bao Liu; 15. Combinatorial approaches to dynamical decoupling Martin Rötteler and Pawel Wocjan; Part V. Alternative Quantum Computation Approaches: 16. Holonomic quantum computation Paolo Zanardi; 17. Fault tolerance for holonomic quantum computation Ognyan Oreshkov, Todd Brun and Daniel Lidar; 18. Fault tolerant measurement-based quantum computing Debbie Leung; Part VI. Topological Methods: 19. Topological codes Héctor Bombín; 20. Fault tolerant topological cluster state quantum computing Austin Fowler and Kovid Goyal; Part VII. Applications and Implementations: 21. Experimental quantum error correction Dave Bacon; 22. Experimental dynamical decoupling Lorenza Viola; 23. Architectures Jacob Taylor; 24. Error correction in quantum communication Mark Wilde; Part VIII. Critical Evaluation of Fault Tolerance: 25. Hamiltonian methods in QEC and fault tolerance Eduardo Novais, Eduardo Mucciolo and Harold Baranger; 26. Critique of fault-tolerant quantum information processing Robert Alicki; References; Index.

How quantum entanglement in DNA synchronizes double-strand breakage by type II restriction endonucleases.

PubMed

Kurian, P; Dunston, G; Lindesay, J

2016-02-21

Macroscopic quantum effects in living systems have been studied widely in pursuit of fundamental explanations for biological energy transport and sensing. While it is known that type II endonucleases, the largest class of restriction enzymes, induce DNA double-strand breaks by attacking phosphodiester bonds, the mechanism by which simultaneous cutting is coordinated between the catalytic centers remains unclear. We propose a quantum mechanical model for collective electronic behavior in the DNA helix, where dipole-dipole oscillations are quantized through boundary conditions imposed by the enzyme. Zero-point modes of coherent oscillations would provide the energy required for double-strand breakage. Such quanta may be preserved in the presence of thermal noise by the enzyme's displacement of water surrounding the DNA recognition sequence. The enzyme thus serves as a decoherence shield. Palindromic mirror symmetry of the enzyme-DNA complex should conserve parity, because symmetric bond-breaking ceases when the symmetry of the complex is violated or when physiological parameters are perturbed from optima. Persistent correlations in DNA across longer spatial separations-a possible signature of quantum entanglement-may be explained by such a mechanism. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How quantum entanglement in DNA synchronizes double-strand breakage by type II restriction endonucleases

PubMed Central

Kurian, P.; Dunston, G.; Lindesay, J.

2015-01-01

Macroscopic quantum effects in living systems have been studied widely in pursuit of fundamental explanations for biological energy transport and sensing. While it is known that type II endonucleases, the largest class of restriction enzymes, induce DNA double-strand breaks by attacking phosphodiester bonds, the mechanism by which simultaneous cutting is coordinated between the catalytic centers remains unclear. We propose a quantum mechanical model for collective electronic behavior in the DNA helix, where dipole-dipole oscillations are quantized through boundary conditions imposed by the enzyme. Zero-point modes of coherent oscillations would provide the energy required for double-strand breakage. Such quanta may be preserved in the presence of thermal noise by the enzyme’s displacement of water surrounding the DNA recognition sequence. The enzyme thus serves as a decoherence shield. Palindromic mirror symmetry of the enzyme-DNA complex should conserve parity, because symmetric bond-breaking ceases when the symmetry of the complex is violated or when physiological parameters are perturbed from optima. Persistent correlations in DNA across longer spatial separations—a possible signature of quantum entanglement—may be explained by such a mechanism. PMID:26682627

Decoherence at constant excitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres, J. M.; Sadurní, E.; Seligman, T. H.

2012-02-01

We present a simple exactly solvable extension of the Jaynes-Cummings model by adding dissipation. This is done such that the total number of excitations is conserved. The Liouville operator in the resulting master equation can be reduced to blocks of 4×4 matrices.

Evolution and Survival of Quantum Entanglement

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-06

Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 quantum entanglement, decoherence, qubit, revival, survival, Jaynes-Cummings, Rabi , rotating wave approximation...measurements, PHYSICAL REVIEW A , (06 2013): 62331. doi: S Agarwal, , S M Hashemi Rafsanjani , J H Eberly. Dissipation of the Rabi Model Beyond the

Measurement of a heavy-hole hyperfine interaction in InGaAs quantum dots using resonance fluorescence.

PubMed

Fallahi, P; Yilmaz, S T; Imamoğlu, A

2010-12-17

We measure the strength and the sign of hyperfine interaction of a heavy hole with nuclear spins in single self-assembled quantum dots. Our experiments utilize the locking of a quantum dot resonance to an incident laser frequency to generate nuclear spin polarization. By monitoring the resulting Overhauser shift of optical transitions that are split either by electron or exciton Zeeman energy with respect to the locked transition using resonance fluorescence, we find that the ratio of the heavy-hole and electron hyperfine interactions is -0.09 ± 0.02 in three quantum dots. Since hyperfine interactions constitute the principal decoherence source for spin qubits, we expect our results to be important for efforts aimed at using heavy-hole spins in quantum information processing.

Engineering quantum hyperentangled states in atomic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nawaz, Mehwish; -Islam, Rameez-ul; Abbas, Tasawar; Ikram, Manzoor

2017-11-01

Hyperentangled states have boosted many quantum informatics tasks tremendously due to their high information content per quantum entity. Until now, however, the engineering and manipulation of such states were limited to photonic systems only. In present article, we propose generating atomic hyperentanglement involving atomic internal states as well as atomic external momenta states. Hypersuperposition, hyperentangled cluster, Bell and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states are engineered deterministically through resonant and off-resonant Bragg diffraction of neutral two-level atoms. Based on the characteristic parameters of the atomic Bragg diffraction, such as comparatively large interaction times and spatially well-separated outputs, such decoherence resistant states are expected to exhibit good overall fidelities and offer the evident benefits of full controllability, along with extremely high detection efficiency, over the counterpart photonic states comprised entirely of flying qubits.

Deterministic nonclassicality for quantum-mechanical oscillators in thermal states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marek, Petr; Lachman, Lukáš; Slodička, Lukáš; Filip, Radim

2016-07-01

Quantum nonclassicality is the basic building stone for the vast majority of quantum information applications and methods of its generation are at the forefront of research. One of the obstacles any method needs to clear is the looming presence of decoherence and noise which act against the nonclassicality and often erase it completely. In this paper we show that nonclassical states of a quantum harmonic oscillator initially in thermal equilibrium states can be deterministically created by coupling it to a single two-level system. This can be achieved even in the absorption regime in which the two-level system is initially in the ground state. The method is resilient to noise and it may actually benefit from it, as witnessed by the systems with higher thermal energy producing more nonclassical states.

EDITORIAL: Squeezed states and uncertainty relations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jauregue-Renaud, Rocio; Kim, Young S.; Man'ko, Margarita A.; Moya-Cessa, Hector

2004-06-01

This special issue of Journal of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics is composed mainly of extended versions of talks and papers presented at the Eighth International Conference on Squeezed States and Uncertainty Relations held in Puebla, Mexico on 9-13 June 2003. The Conference was hosted by Instituto de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. This series of meetings began at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA, in March 1991. The second and third workshops were organized by the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow, Russia, in 1992 and by the University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA, in 1993, respectively. Afterwards, it was decided that the workshop series should be held every two years. Thus the fourth meeting took place at the University of Shanxi in China and was supported by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). The next three meetings in 1997, 1999 and 2001 were held in Lake Balatonfüred, Hungary, in Naples, Italy, and in Boston, USA, respectively. All of them were sponsored by IUPAP. The ninth workshop will take place in Besançon, France, in 2005. The conference has now become one of the major international meetings on quantum optics and the foundations of quantum mechanics, where most of the active research groups throughout the world present their new results. Accordingly this conference has been able to align itself to the current trend in quantum optics and quantum mechanics. The Puebla meeting covered most extensively the following areas: quantum measurements, quantum computing and information theory, trapped atoms and degenerate gases, and the generation and characterization of quantum states of light. The meeting also covered squeeze-like transformations in areas other than quantum optics, such as atomic physics, nuclear physics, statistical physics and relativity, as well as optical devices. There were many new participants at this meeting, particularly from Latin American countries including, of course, Mexico. There were many talks on the subjects traditionally covered in this conference series, including quantum fluctuations, different forms of squeezing, unlike kinds of nonclassical states of light, and distinct representations of the quantum superposition principle, such as even and odd coherent states. The entanglement phenomenon, frequently in the form of the EPR paradox, is responsible for the main advantages of quantum engineering compared with classical methods. Even though entanglement has been known since the early days of quantum mechanics, its properties, such as the most appropriate entanglement measures, are still under current investigation. The phenomena of dissipations and decoherence of the initial pure states are very important because the fast decoherence can destroy all the advantages of quantum processes in teleportation, quantum computing and image processing. Due to this, methods of controlling the decoherence, such as by the use of different kinds of nonlinearities and deformations, are also under study. From the very beginning of quantum mechanics, the uncertainty relations were basic inequalities distinguishing the classical and quantum worlds. Among the theoretical methods for quantum optics and quantum mechanics, this conference covered phase space and group representations, such as the Wigner and probability distribution functions, which provide an alternative approach to the Schr\\"odinger or Heisenberg picture. Different forms of probability representations of quantum states are important tools to be applied in studying various quantum phenomena, such as quantum interference, decoherence and quantum tomography. They have been established also as a very useful tool in all branches of classical optics. From the mathematical point of view, it is well known that the coherent and squeezed states are representations of the Lorentz group. It was noted throughout the conference that another form of the Lorentz group, namely, the 2 x 2 representation of the SL(2,c) group, is becoming more prominent while providing the mathematical basis for the Poincaré sphere, entanglement, qubits and decoherence, as well as classical ray optics traditionally based on 2 x 2 `ABCD' matrices. The contributions of this special issue cover the most recent trends in all areas of quantum optics and the foundations of quantum mechanics.

Multidimensional effects in nonadiabatic statistical theories of spin- forbidden kinetics. A case study of 3O + CO → CO 2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jasper, Ahren

2015-04-14

The appropriateness of treating crossing seams of electronic states of different spins as nonadiabatic transition states in statistical calculations of spin-forbidden reaction rates is considered. We show that the spin-forbidden reaction coordinate, the nuclear coordinate perpendicular to the crossing seam, is coupled to the remaining nuclear degrees of freedom. We found that this coupling gives rise to multidimensional effects that are not typically included in statistical treatments of spin-forbidden kinetics. Three qualitative categories of multidimensional effects may be identified: static multidimensional effects due to the geometry-dependence of the local shape of the crossing seam and of the spin–orbit coupling, dynamicalmore » multidimensional effects due to energy exchange with the reaction coordinate during the seam crossing, and nonlocal(history-dependent) multidimensional effects due to interference of the electronic variables at second, third, and later seam crossings. Nonlocal multidimensional effects are intimately related to electronic decoherence, where electronic dephasing acts to erase the history of the system. A semiclassical model based on short-time full-dimensional trajectories that includes all three multidimensional effects as well as a model for electronic decoherence is presented. The results of this multidimensional nonadiabatic statistical theory (MNST) for the 3O + CO → CO 2 reaction are compared with the results of statistical theories employing one-dimensional (Landau–Zener and weak coupling) models for the transition probability and with those calculated previously using multistate trajectories. The MNST method is shown to accurately reproduce the multistate decay-of-mixing trajectory results, so long as consistent thresholds are used. Furthermore, the MNST approach has several advantages over multistate trajectory approaches and is more suitable in chemical kinetics calculations at low temperatures and for complex systems. The error in statistical calculations that neglect multidimensional effects is shown to be as large as a factor of 2 for this system, with static multidimensional effects identified as the largest source of error.« less

Fisher information due to a phase noisy laser under non-Markovian environment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Abdel-Khalek, S., E-mail: sayedquantum@yahoo.co.uk

2014-12-15

More recently, K. Berrada [Annals of Physics 340 (2014) 60-69] [1] studied the geometric phase of a two-level atom system driven by a phase noise laser under non-Markovian dynamics in terms of different parameters involved in the whole system, and collapse and revival phenomena were found for large class of states. In this paper, using this noise effect, we study the quantum fisher information (QFI) for a two-level atom system driven by a phase noise laser under non-Markovian dynamics. A new quantity, called QFI flow is used to characterize the damping effect and unveil a fundamental connection between non-Markovian behaviormore » and dynamics of system–environment correlations under phase noise laser. It is shown that QFI flow has disappeared suddenly followed by a sudden birth depending on the kind of the environment damping. QFI flow provides an indicator to characterize the dissipative quantum system’s decoherence by analyzing the behavior of the dynamical non-Markovian coefficients.« less

Faithful conditional quantum state transfer between weakly coupled qubits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miková, M.; Straka, I.; Mičuda, M.; Krčmarský, V.; Dušek, M.; Ježek, M.; Fiurášek, J.; Filip, R.

2016-08-01

One of the strengths of quantum information theory is that it can treat quantum states without referring to their particular physical representation. In principle, quantum states can be therefore fully swapped between various quantum systems by their mutual interaction and this quantum state transfer is crucial for many quantum communication and information processing tasks. In practice, however, the achievable interaction time and strength are often limited by decoherence. Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate a procedure for faithful quantum state transfer between two weakly interacting qubits. Our scheme enables a probabilistic yet perfect unidirectional transfer of an arbitrary unknown state of a source qubit onto a target qubit prepared initially in a known state. The transfer is achieved by a combination of a suitable measurement of the source qubit and quantum filtering on the target qubit depending on the outcome of measurement on the source qubit. We experimentally verify feasibility and robustness of the transfer using a linear optical setup with qubits encoded into polarization states of single photons.

The Quantum Steganography Protocol via Quantum Noisy Channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Zhan-Hong; Chen, Xiu-Bo; Niu, Xin-Xin; Yang, Yi-Xian

2015-08-01

As a promising branch of quantum information hiding, Quantum steganography aims to transmit secret messages covertly in public quantum channels. But due to environment noise and decoherence, quantum states easily decay and change. Therefore, it is very meaningful to make a quantum information hiding protocol apply to quantum noisy channels. In this paper, we make the further research on a quantum steganography protocol for quantum noisy channels. The paper proved that the protocol can apply to transmit secret message covertly in quantum noisy channels, and explicity showed quantum steganography protocol. In the protocol, without publishing the cover data, legal receivers can extract the secret message with a certain probability, which make the protocol have a good secrecy. Moreover, our protocol owns the independent security, and can be used in general quantum communications. The communication, which happen in our protocol, do not need entangled states, so our protocol can be used without the limitation of entanglement resource. More importantly, the protocol apply to quantum noisy channels, and can be used widely in the future quantum communication.

Five-wave-packet quantum error correction based on continuous-variable cluster entanglement

PubMed Central

Hao, Shuhong; Su, Xiaolong; Tian, Caixing; Xie, Changde; Peng, Kunchi

2015-01-01

Quantum error correction protects the quantum state against noise and decoherence in quantum communication and quantum computation, which enables one to perform fault-torrent quantum information processing. We experimentally demonstrate a quantum error correction scheme with a five-wave-packet code against a single stochastic error, the original theoretical model of which was firstly proposed by S. L. Braunstein and T. A. Walker. Five submodes of a continuous variable cluster entangled state of light are used for five encoding channels. Especially, in our encoding scheme the information of the input state is only distributed on three of the five channels and thus any error appearing in the remained two channels never affects the output state, i.e. the output quantum state is immune from the error in the two channels. The stochastic error on a single channel is corrected for both vacuum and squeezed input states and the achieved fidelities of the output states are beyond the corresponding classical limit. PMID:26498395

Generation of large coherent states by bang–bang control of a trapped-ion oscillator

PubMed Central

Alonso, J.; Leupold, F. M.; Solèr, Z. U.; Fadel, M.; Marinelli, M.; Keitch, B. C.; Negnevitsky, V.; Home, J. P.

2016-01-01

Fast control of quantum systems is essential to make use of quantum properties before they degrade by decoherence. This is important for quantum-enhanced information processing, as well as for pushing quantum systems towards the boundary between quantum and classical physics. ‘Bang–bang' control attains the ultimate speed limit by making large changes to control fields much faster than the system can respond, but is often challenging to implement experimentally. Here we demonstrate bang–bang control of a trapped-ion oscillator using nanosecond switching of the trapping potentials. We perform controlled displacements with which we realize coherent states with up to 10,000 quanta of energy. We use these displaced states to verify the form of the ion-light interaction at high excitations far outside the usual regime of operation. These methods provide new possibilities for quantum-state manipulation and generation, alongside the potential for a significant increase in operational clock speed for trapped-ion quantum information processing. PMID:27046513

Quantum teleportation through noisy channels with multi-qubit GHZ states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Espoukeh, Pakhshan; Pedram, Pouria

2014-08-01

We investigate two-party quantum teleportation through noisy channels for multi-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states and find which state loses less quantum information in the process. The dynamics of states is described by the master equation with the noisy channels that lead to the quantum channels to be mixed states. We analytically solve the Lindblad equation for -qubit GHZ states where Lindblad operators correspond to the Pauli matrices and describe the decoherence of states. Using the average fidelity, we show that 3GHZ state is more robust than GHZ state under most noisy channels. However, GHZ state preserves same quantum information with respect to Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen and 3GHZ states where the noise is in direction in which the fidelity remains unchanged. We explicitly show that Jung et al.'s conjecture (Phys Rev A 78:012312, 2008), namely "average fidelity with same-axis noisy channels is in general larger than average fidelity with different-axes noisy channels," is not valid for 3GHZ and 4GHZ states.

Cooling and heating of the quantum motion of trapped cadmium(+) ions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deslauriers, Louis

The quest for a quantum system best satisfying the stringent requirements of a quantum information processor has made tremendous progress in many fields of physics. In the last decade, trapped ions have been established as one of the most promising architectures to accomplish the task. Internal states of an ion which can have extremely long coherence time can be used to store a quantum bit, and therefore allow many gate operations before the coherence is lost. Entanglement between multiple ions can be established via Coulomb interactions mediated by appropriate laser fields. Entangling schemes usually require the ions to be initialized to near their motional ground state. The interaction of fluctuating electric fields with the motional state of the ion leads to heating and thus to decoherence for entanglement generation limiting the fidelity of quantum logic gates. Effective ground state cooling of trapped ion motion and suppression of motional heating are thus crucial to many applications of trapped ions in quantum information science. In this thesis, I describe the implementation and study of several components of a Cadmium-ion-based quantum information processor, with special emphasis on the control and decoherence of trapped ion motion. I first discuss the building and design of various ion traps that were used in this work. I also report on the use of ultrafast laser pulses to photoionize and load cadmium ions in a variety of rf Paul trap geometries. A detailed analysis of the photoionization scheme is presented, along with its dependence on controlled experimental parameters. I then describe the implementation of Raman sideband cooling on a single trapped 111Cd+ ion to the ground state of motion, where a ground state population of 97% was achieved. The efficacy of this cooling technique is discussed with respect to different initial motional state distributions and its sensitivity to the presence of motional heating. I also present an experiment where the motion of a single trapped 112Cd+ ion is sympathetically cooled by directly Doppler cooling a 114Cd+ ion in the same trap. The implications of this result are relevant to the scaling of a trapped ion quantum computer, where the unwanted motion of an ion crystal can be quenched while not affecting the internal states of the qubit ions. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Measurement-based control of a mechanical oscillator at its thermal decoherence rate.

PubMed

Wilson, D J; Sudhir, V; Piro, N; Schilling, R; Ghadimi, A; Kippenberg, T J

2015-08-20

In real-time quantum feedback protocols, the record of a continuous measurement is used to stabilize a desired quantum state. Recent years have seen successful applications of these protocols in a variety of well-isolated micro-systems, including microwave photons and superconducting qubits. However, stabilizing the quantum state of a tangibly massive object, such as a mechanical oscillator, remains very challenging: the main obstacle is environmental decoherence, which places stringent requirements on the timescale in which the state must be measured. Here we describe a position sensor that is capable of resolving the zero-point motion of a solid-state, 4.3-megahertz nanomechanical oscillator in the timescale of its thermal decoherence, a basic requirement for real-time (Markovian) quantum feedback control tasks, such as ground-state preparation. The sensor is based on evanescent optomechanical coupling to a high-Q microcavity, and achieves an imprecision four orders of magnitude below that at the standard quantum limit for a weak continuous position measurement--a 100-fold improvement over previous reports--while maintaining an imprecision-back-action product that is within a factor of five of the Heisenberg uncertainty limit. As a demonstration of its utility, we use the measurement as an error signal with which to feedback cool the oscillator. Using radiation pressure as an actuator, the oscillator is cold damped with high efficiency: from a cryogenic-bath temperature of 4.4 kelvin to an effective value of 1.1 ± 0.1 millikelvin, corresponding to a mean phonon number of 5.3 ± 0.6 (that is, a ground-state probability of 16 per cent). Our results set a new benchmark for the performance of a linear position sensor, and signal the emergence of mechanical oscillators as practical subjects for measurement-based quantum control.

Quantum-coherent coupling of a mechanical oscillator to an optical cavity mode.

PubMed

Verhagen, E; Deléglise, S; Weis, S; Schliesser, A; Kippenberg, T J

2012-02-01

Optical laser fields have been widely used to achieve quantum control over the motional and internal degrees of freedom of atoms and ions, molecules and atomic gases. A route to controlling the quantum states of macroscopic mechanical oscillators in a similar fashion is to exploit the parametric coupling between optical and mechanical degrees of freedom through radiation pressure in suitably engineered optical cavities. If the optomechanical coupling is 'quantum coherent'--that is, if the coherent coupling rate exceeds both the optical and the mechanical decoherence rate--quantum states are transferred from the optical field to the mechanical oscillator and vice versa. This transfer allows control of the mechanical oscillator state using the wide range of available quantum optical techniques. So far, however, quantum-coherent coupling of micromechanical oscillators has only been achieved using microwave fields at millikelvin temperatures. Optical experiments have not attained this regime owing to the large mechanical decoherence rates and the difficulty of overcoming optical dissipation. Here we achieve quantum-coherent coupling between optical photons and a micromechanical oscillator. Simultaneously, coupling to the cold photon bath cools the mechanical oscillator to an average occupancy of 1.7 ± 0.1 motional quanta. Excitation with weak classical light pulses reveals the exchange of energy between the optical light field and the micromechanical oscillator in the time domain at the level of less than one quantum on average. This optomechanical system establishes an efficient quantum interface between mechanical oscillators and optical photons, which can provide decoherence-free transport of quantum states through optical fibres. Our results offer a route towards the use of mechanical oscillators as quantum transducers or in microwave-to-optical quantum links.

Open questions on nuclear collective motion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Frauendorf, S., E-mail: sfrauend@nd.edu

The status of the macroscopic and microscopic description of the collective quadrupole modes is reviewed, where limits due to non-adiabaticity and decoherence are exposed. The microscopic description of the yrast states in vibrator-like nuclei in the framework of the rotating mean field is presented.

Open quantum dots—probing the quantum to classical transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferry, D. K.; Burke, A. M.; Akis, R.; Brunner, R.; Day, T. E.; Meisels, R.; Kuchar, F.; Bird, J. P.; Bennett, B. R.

2011-04-01

Quantum dots provide a natural system in which to study both quantum and classical features of transport. As a closed testbed, they provide a natural system with a very rich set of eigenstates. When coupled to the environment through a pair of quantum point contacts, each of which passes several modes, the original quantum environment evolves into a set of decoherent and coherent states, which classically would compose a mixed phase space. The manner of this breakup is governed strongly by Zurek's decoherence theory, and the remaining coherent states possess all the properties of his pointer states. These states are naturally studied via traditional magnetotransport at low temperatures. More recently, we have used scanning gate (conductance) microscopy to probe the nature of the coherent states, and have shown that families of states exist through the spectrum in a manner consistent with quantum Darwinism. In this review, we discuss the nature of the various states, how they are formed, and the signatures that appear in magnetotransport and general conductance studies.

Interfacing broadband photonic qubits to on-chip cavity-protected rare-earth ensembles

PubMed Central

Zhong, Tian; Kindem, Jonathan M.; Rochman, Jake; Faraon, Andrei

2017-01-01

Ensembles of solid-state optical emitters enable broadband quantum storage and transduction of photonic qubits, with applications in high-rate quantum networks for secure communications and interconnecting future quantum computers. To transfer quantum states using ensembles, rephasing techniques are used to mitigate fast decoherence resulting from inhomogeneous broadening, but these techniques generally limit the bandwidth, efficiency and active times of the quantum interface. Here, we use a dense ensemble of neodymium rare-earth ions strongly coupled to a nanophotonic resonator to demonstrate a significant cavity protection effect at the single-photon level—a technique to suppress ensemble decoherence due to inhomogeneous broadening. The protected Rabi oscillations between the cavity field and the atomic super-radiant state enable ultra-fast transfer of photonic frequency qubits to the ions (∼50 GHz bandwidth) followed by retrieval with 98.7% fidelity. With the prospect of coupling to other long-lived rare-earth spin states, this technique opens the possibilities for broadband, always-ready quantum memories and fast optical-to-microwave transducers. PMID:28090078

Surface-hopping dynamics and decoherence with quantum equilibrium structure.

PubMed

Grunwald, Robbie; Kim, Hyojoon; Kapral, Raymond

2008-04-28

In open quantum systems, decoherence occurs through interaction of a quantum subsystem with its environment. The computation of expectation values requires a knowledge of the quantum dynamics of operators and sampling from initial states of the density matrix describing the subsystem and bath. We consider situations where the quantum evolution can be approximated by quantum-classical Liouville dynamics and examine the circumstances under which the evolution can be reduced to surface-hopping dynamics, where the evolution consists of trajectory segments exclusively evolving on single adiabatic surfaces, with probabilistic hops between these surfaces. The justification for the reduction depends on the validity of a Markovian approximation on a bath averaged memory kernel that accounts for quantum coherence in the system. We show that such a reduction is often possible when initial sampling is from either the quantum or classical bath initial distributions. If the average is taken only over the quantum dispersion that broadens the classical distribution, then such a reduction is not always possible.

Adiabatic and nonadiabatic perturbation theory for coherence vector description of neutrino oscillations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hollenberg, Sebastian; Päs, Heinrich

2012-01-01

The standard wave function approach for the treatment of neutrino oscillations fails in situations where quantum ensembles at a finite temperature with or without an interacting background plasma are encountered. As a first step to treat such phenomena in a novel way, we propose a unified approach to both adiabatic and nonadiabatic two-flavor oscillations in neutrino ensembles with finite temperature and generic (e.g., matter) potentials. Neglecting effects of ensemble decoherence for now, we study the evolution of a neutrino ensemble governed by the associated quantum kinetic equations, which apply to systems with finite temperature. The quantum kinetic equations are solved formally using the Magnus expansion and it is shown that a convenient choice of the quantum mechanical picture (e.g., the interaction picture) reveals suitable parameters to characterize the physics of the underlying system (e.g., an effective oscillation length). It is understood that this method also provides a promising starting point for the treatment of the more general case in which decoherence is taken into account.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

van den Berg, R.; Brandino, G. P.; El Araby, O.

In this study, we introduce an integrability-based method enabling the study of semiconductor quantum dot models incorporating both the full hyperfine interaction as well as a mean-field treatment of dipole-dipole interactions in the nuclear spin bath. By performing free induction decay and spin echo simulations we characterize the combined effect of both types of interactions on the decoherence of the electron spin, for external fields ranging from low to high values. We show that for spin echo simulations the hyperfine interaction is the dominant source of decoherence at short times for low fields, and competes with the dipole-dipole interactions atmore » longer times. On the contrary, at high fields the main source of decay is due to the dipole-dipole interactions. In the latter regime an asymmetry in the echo is observed. Furthermore, the non-decaying fraction previously observed for zero field free induction decay simulations in quantum dots with only hyperfine interactions, is destroyed for longer times by the mean-field treatment of the dipolar interactions.« less

Competing interactions in semiconductor quantum dots

DOE PAGES

van den Berg, R.; Brandino, G. P.; El Araby, O.; ...

2014-10-14

In this study, we introduce an integrability-based method enabling the study of semiconductor quantum dot models incorporating both the full hyperfine interaction as well as a mean-field treatment of dipole-dipole interactions in the nuclear spin bath. By performing free induction decay and spin echo simulations we characterize the combined effect of both types of interactions on the decoherence of the electron spin, for external fields ranging from low to high values. We show that for spin echo simulations the hyperfine interaction is the dominant source of decoherence at short times for low fields, and competes with the dipole-dipole interactions atmore » longer times. On the contrary, at high fields the main source of decay is due to the dipole-dipole interactions. In the latter regime an asymmetry in the echo is observed. Furthermore, the non-decaying fraction previously observed for zero field free induction decay simulations in quantum dots with only hyperfine interactions, is destroyed for longer times by the mean-field treatment of the dipolar interactions.« less

Unforgeable noise-tolerant quantum tokens

PubMed Central

Pastawski, Fernando; Yao, Norman Y.; Jiang, Liang; Lukin, Mikhail D.; Cirac, J. Ignacio

2012-01-01

The realization of devices that harness the laws of quantum mechanics represents an exciting challenge at the interface of modern technology and fundamental science. An exemplary paragon of the power of such quantum primitives is the concept of “quantum money” [Wiesner S (1983) ACM SIGACT News 15:78–88]. A dishonest holder of a quantum bank note will invariably fail in any counterfeiting attempts; indeed, under assumptions of ideal measurements and decoherence-free memories such security is guaranteed by the no-cloning theorem. In any practical situation, however, noise, decoherence, and operational imperfections abound. Thus, the development of secure “quantum money”-type primitives capable of tolerating realistic infidelities is of both practical and fundamental importance. Here, we propose a novel class of such protocols and demonstrate their tolerance to noise; moreover, we prove their rigorous security by determining tight fidelity thresholds. Our proposed protocols require only the ability to prepare, store, and measure single quantum bit memories, making their experimental realization accessible with current technologies.

Free-time and fixed end-point optimal control theory in dissipative media: application to entanglement generation and maintenance.

PubMed

Mishima, K; Yamashita, K

2009-07-07

We develop monotonically convergent free-time and fixed end-point optimal control theory (OCT) in the density-matrix representation to deal with quantum systems showing dissipation. Our theory is more general and flexible for tailoring optimal laser pulses in order to control quantum dynamics with dissipation than the conventional fixed-time and fixed end-point OCT in that the optimal temporal duration of laser pulses can also be optimized exactly. To show the usefulness of our theory, it is applied to the generation and maintenance of the vibrational entanglement of carbon monoxide adsorbed on the copper (100) surface, CO/Cu(100). We demonstrate the numerical results and clarify how to combat vibrational decoherence as much as possible by the tailored shapes of the optimal laser pulses. It is expected that our theory will be general enough to be applied to a variety of dissipative quantum dynamics systems because the decoherence is one of the quantum phenomena sensitive to the temporal duration of the quantum dynamics.

Scaling relationships for nonadiabatic energy relaxation times in warm dense matter: toward understanding the equation of state.

PubMed

Pradhan, Ekadashi; Magyar, Rudolph J; Akimov, Alexey V

2016-11-30

Understanding the dynamics of electron-ion energy transfer in warm dense (WD) matter is important to the measurement of equation of state (EOS) properties and for understanding the energy balance in dynamic simulations. In this work, we present a comprehensive investigation of nonadiabatic electron relaxation and thermal excitation dynamics in aluminum under high pressure and temperature. Using quantum-classical trajectory surface hopping approaches, we examine the role of nonadiabatic couplings and electronic decoherence in electron-nuclear energy transfer in WD aluminum. The computed timescales range from 400 fs to 4.0 ps and are consistent with existing experimental studies. We have derived general scaling relationships between macroscopic parameters of WD systems such as temperature or mass density and the timescales of energy redistribution between quantum and classical degrees of freedom. The scaling laws are supported by computational results. We show that electronic decoherence plays essential role and can change the functional dependencies qualitatively. The established scaling relationships can be of use in modelling of WD matter.

Preserving photon qubits in an unknown quantum state with Knill Dynamical Decoupling - Towards an all optical quantum memory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Manish K.; Navarro, Erik J.; Moulder, Todd A.; Mueller, Jason D.; Balouchi, Ashkan; Brown, Katherine L.; Lee, Hwang; Dowling, Jonathan P.

2015-05-01

The storage of quantum states and its distribution over long distances is essential for emerging quantum technologies such as quantum networks and long distance quantum cryptography. The implementation of polarization-based quantum communication is limited by signal loss and decoherence caused by the birefringence of a single-mode fiber. We investigate the Knill dynamical decoupling scheme, implemented using half-wave plates in a single mode fiber, to minimize decoherence of polarization qubit and show that a fidelity greater than 99 % can be achieved in absence of rotation error and fidelity greater than 96 % can be achieved in presence of rotation error. Such a scheme can be used to preserve any quantum state with high fidelity and has potential application for constructing all optical quantum memory, quantum delay line, and quantum repeater. The authors would like to acknowledge the support from the Air Force office of Scientific Research, the Army Research office, and the National Science Foundation.

Interfacing broadband photonic qubits to on-chip cavity-protected rare-earth ensembles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Tian; Kindem, Jonathan M.; Rochman, Jake; Faraon, Andrei

2017-01-01

Ensembles of solid-state optical emitters enable broadband quantum storage and transduction of photonic qubits, with applications in high-rate quantum networks for secure communications and interconnecting future quantum computers. To transfer quantum states using ensembles, rephasing techniques are used to mitigate fast decoherence resulting from inhomogeneous broadening, but these techniques generally limit the bandwidth, efficiency and active times of the quantum interface. Here, we use a dense ensemble of neodymium rare-earth ions strongly coupled to a nanophotonic resonator to demonstrate a significant cavity protection effect at the single-photon level--a technique to suppress ensemble decoherence due to inhomogeneous broadening. The protected Rabi oscillations between the cavity field and the atomic super-radiant state enable ultra-fast transfer of photonic frequency qubits to the ions (~50 GHz bandwidth) followed by retrieval with 98.7% fidelity. With the prospect of coupling to other long-lived rare-earth spin states, this technique opens the possibilities for broadband, always-ready quantum memories and fast optical-to-microwave transducers.

Quantum origins of objectivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horodecki, R.; Korbicz, J. K.; Horodecki, P.

2015-03-01

In spite of all of its successes, quantum mechanics leaves us with a central problem: How does nature create a bridge from fragile quanta to the objective world of everyday experience? Here we find that a basic structure within quantum mechanics that leads to the perceived objectivity is a so-called spectrum broadcast structure. We uncover this based on minimal assumptions, without referring to any dynamical details or a concrete model. More specifically, working formally within the decoherence theory setting with multiple environments (called quantum Darwinism), we show how a crucial for quantum mechanics notion of nondisturbance due to Bohr [N. Bohr, Phys. Rev. 48, 696 (1935), 10.1103/PhysRev.48.696] and a natural definition of objectivity lead to a canonical structure of a quantum system-environment state, reflecting objective information records about the system stored in the environment.

Coherent quantum dynamics in steady-state manifolds of strongly dissipative systems.

PubMed

Zanardi, Paolo; Campos Venuti, Lorenzo

2014-12-12

Recently, it has been realized that dissipative processes can be harnessed and exploited to the end of coherent quantum control and information processing. In this spirit, we consider strongly dissipative quantum systems admitting a nontrivial manifold of steady states. We show how one can enact adiabatic coherent unitary manipulations, e.g., quantum logical gates, inside this steady-state manifold by adding a weak, time-rescaled, Hamiltonian term into the system's Liouvillian. The effective long-time dynamics is governed by a projected Hamiltonian which results from the interplay between the weak unitary control and the fast relaxation process. The leakage outside the steady-state manifold entailed by the Hamiltonian term is suppressed by an environment-induced symmetrization of the dynamics. We present applications to quantum-computation in decoherence-free subspaces and noiseless subsystems and numerical analysis of nonadiabatic errors.

Experimental realization of non-adiabatic universal quantum gates using geometric Landau-Zener-Stückelberg interferometry

PubMed Central

Wang, Li; Tu, Tao; Gong, Bo; Zhou, Cheng; Guo, Guang-Can

2016-01-01

High fidelity universal gates for quantum bits form an essential ingredient of quantum information processing. In particular, geometric gates have attracted attention because they have a higher intrinsic resistance to certain errors. However, their realization remains a challenge because of the need for complicated quantum control on a multi-level structure as well as meeting the adiabatic condition within a short decoherence time. Here, we demonstrate non-adiabatic quantum operations for a two-level system by applying a well-controlled geometric Landau-Zener-Stückelberg interferometry. By characterizing the gate quality, we also investigate the operation in the presence of realistic dephasing. Furthermore, the result provides an essential model suitable for understanding an interplay of geometric phase and Landau-Zener-Stückelberg process which are well explored separately. PMID:26738875

Entropy production in a photovoltaic cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ansari, Mohammad H.

2017-05-01

We evaluate entropy production in a photovoltaic cell that is modeled by four electronic levels resonantly coupled to thermally populated field modes at different temperatures. We use a formalism recently proposed, the so-called multiple parallel worlds, to consistently address the nonlinearity of entropy in terms of density matrix. Our result shows that entropy production is the difference between two flows: a semiclassical flow that linearly depends on occupational probabilities, and another flow that depends nonlinearly on quantum coherence and has no semiclassical analog. We show that entropy production in the cells depends on environmentally induced decoherence time and energy detuning. We characterize regimes where reversal flow of information takes place from a cold to hot bath. Interestingly, we identify a lower bound on entropy production, which sets limitations on the statistics of dissipated heat in the cells.

Non-abelian anyons and topological quantum information processing in 1D wire networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alicea, Jason

2012-02-01

Topological quantum computation provides an elegant solution to decoherence, circumventing this infamous problem at the hardware level. The most basic requirement in this approach is the ability to stabilize and manipulate particles exhibiting non-Abelian exchange statistics -- Majorana fermions being the simplest example. Curiously, Majorana fermions have been predicted to arise both in 2D systems, where non-Abelian statistics is well established, and in 1D, where exchange statistics of any type is ill-defined. An important question then arises: do Majorana fermions in 1D hold the same technological promise as their 2D counterparts? In this talk I will answer this question in the affirmative, describing how one can indeed manipulate and harness the non-Abelian statistics of Majoranas in a remarkably simple fashion using networks formed by quantum wires or topological insulator edges.

Molecular processors: from qubits to fuzzy logic.

PubMed

Gentili, Pier Luigi

2011-03-14

Single molecules or their assemblies are information processing devices. Herein it is demonstrated how it is possible to process different types of logic through molecules. As long as decoherent effects are maintained far away from a pure quantum mechanical system, quantum logic can be processed. If the collapse of superimposed or entangled wavefunctions is unavoidable, molecules can still be used to process either crisp (binary or multi-valued) or fuzzy logic. The way for implementing fuzzy inference engines is declared and it is supported by the examples of molecular fuzzy logic systems devised so far. Fuzzy logic is drawing attention in the field of artificial intelligence, because it models human reasoning quite well. This ability may be due to some structural analogies between a fuzzy logic system and the human nervous system. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A Controlled-Phase Gate via Adiabatic Rydberg Dressing of Neutral Atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keating, Tyler; Deutsch, Ivan; Cook, Robert; Biederman, Grant; Jau, Yuan-Yu

2014-05-01

The dipole blockade effect between Rydberg atoms is a promising tool for quantum information processing in neutral atoms. So far, most efforts to perform a quantum logic gate with this effect have used resonant laser pulses to excite the atoms, which makes the system particularly susceptible to decoherence through thermal motional effects. We explore an alternative scheme in which the atomic ground states are adiabatically ``dressed'' by turning on an off-resonant laser. We analyze the implementation of a CPHASE gate using this mechanism and find that fidelities of >99% should be possible with current technology, owing primarily to the suppression of motional errors. We also discuss how such a scheme could be generalized to perform more complicated, multi-qubit gates; in particular, a simple generalization would allow us to perform a Toffoli gate in a single step.

Demonstrating real-time feedback that enhances the performance of measurement sequence with cat states in a cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ofek, N.; Petrenko, A.; Liu, Y.; Vlastakis, B.; Sun, L.; Leghtas, Z.; Heeres, R.; Sliwa, K. M.; Mirrahimi, M.; Jiang, L.; Devoret, M. H.; Schoelkopf, R. J.

2015-03-01

Real-time feedback offers not just the convenience of streamlined data acquisition, but is an essential element in any quantum computational architecture that requires branching based on measurement outcomes. State-preparation, mitigating the effects of qubit decoherence, and recording the trajectories of quantum systems are just a few of the many potential applications of real-time feedback. Photon number parity measurements of cat states in superconducting resonators are a particularly useful platform for demonstrating the clear advantages of having sophisticated feedback schemes to enhance the performance a proposed error-correction protocol [Leghtas et.al. PRL 2013]. In a cQED architecture, where a transmon qubit is coupled to two superconducting cavities, we present a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device capable of making decisions and calculations with latency times far shorter than the lifetimes of any of the system's constituents. This level of performance opens the door to realizing many complex, previously unfeasible, experiments in superconducting qubit systems.

Addressing surface-induced loss and decoherence in superconducting quantum circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuhrer, Andreas; Mueller, Peter; Kuhlmann, Andreas; Filipp, Stefan; Deshpande, Veeresh; Drechsler, Ute

Many of the advances in coherence and fidelity of superconducting qubits have been made possible by clever engineering of the coupling to the environment and operation at noise-insensitive sweet spots. However, this leads to a compromise in experimental flexibility and device tunability, which can become inhibitive as the system size is scaled up. Material and interface related degrees of freedoms are harder to mitigate and are expected to become increasingly important in more complex systems. They impose limits both on coherence (flux-noise) and lifetimes (surface loss) of superconducting qubits. To study and eliminate these effects we have constructed a reusable UHV-compatible sample enclosure that enables us to perform various surface passivation steps before cooling superconducting devices to cryogenic temperatures. The enclosure can accommodate large chips with up to 18 microwave ports and can be vacuum sealed at pressures below 8e-10 mbar. We discuss its operation principle and present first measurement results of superconducting CPW resonators and qubit devices with and without prior surface treatments.

Femtosecond dynamics and laser control of charge transport in trans-polyacetylene.

PubMed

Franco, Ignacio; Shapiro, Moshe; Brumer, Paul

2008-06-28

The induction of dc electronic transport in rigid and flexible trans-polyacetylene oligomers according to the omega versus 2omega coherent control scenario is investigated using a quantum-classical mean field approximation. The approach involves running a large ensemble of mixed quantum-classical trajectories under the influence of omega+2omega laser fields and choosing the initial conditions by sampling the ground-state Wigner distribution function for the nuclei. The vibronic couplings are shown to change the mean single-particle spectrum, introduce ultrafast decoherence, and enhance intramolecular vibrational and electronic relaxation. Nevertheless, even in the presence of significant couplings, limited coherent control of the electronic dynamics is still viable, the most promising route involving the use of femtosecond pulses with a duration that is comparable to the electronic dephasing time. The simulations offer a realistic description of the behavior of a simple coherent control scenario in a complex system and provide a detailed account of the femtosecond photoinduced vibronic dynamics of a conjugated polymer.

Remnant Geometric Hall Response in a Quantum Quench.

PubMed

Wilson, Justin H; Song, Justin C W; Refael, Gil

2016-12-02

Out-of-equilibrium systems can host phenomena that transcend the usual restrictions of equilibrium systems. Here, we unveil how out-of-equilibrium states, prepared via a quantum quench in a two-band system, can exhibit a nonzero Hall-type current-a remnant Hall response-even when the instantaneous Hamiltonian is time reversal symmetric (in contrast to equilibrium Hall currents). Interestingly, the remnant Hall response arises from the coherent dynamics of the wave function that retain a remnant of its quantum geometry postquench, and can be traced to processes beyond linear response. Quenches in two-band Dirac systems are natural venues for realizing remnant Hall currents, which exist when either mirror or time-reversal symmetry are broken (before or after the quench). Its long time persistence, sensitivity to symmetry breaking, and decoherence-type relaxation processes allow it to be used as a sensitive diagnostic of the complex out-of-equilibrium dynamics readily controlled and probed in cold-atomic optical lattice experiments.

Indistinguishable and efficient single photons from a quantum dot in a planar nanobeam waveguide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

KiršanskÄ--, Gabija; Thyrrestrup, Henri; Daveau, Raphaël S.; Dreeßen, Chris L.; Pregnolato, Tommaso; Midolo, Leonardo; Tighineanu, Petru; Javadi, Alisa; Stobbe, Søren; Schott, Rüdiger; Ludwig, Arne; Wieck, Andreas D.; Park, Suk In; Song, Jin D.; Kuhlmann, Andreas V.; Söllner, Immo; Löbl, Matthias C.; Warburton, Richard J.; Lodahl, Peter

2017-10-01

We demonstrate a high-purity source of indistinguishable single photons using a quantum dot embedded in a nanophotonic waveguide. The source features a near-unity internal coupling efficiency and the collected photons are efficiently coupled off chip by implementing a taper that adiabatically couples the photons to an optical fiber. By quasiresonant excitation of the quantum dot, we measure a single-photon purity larger than 99.4 % and a photon indistinguishability of up to 94 ±1 % by using p -shell excitation combined with spectral filtering to reduce photon jitter. A temperature-dependent study allows pinpointing the residual decoherence processes, notably the effect of phonon broadening. Strict resonant excitation is implemented as well as another means of suppressing photon jitter, and the additional complexity of suppressing the excitation laser source is addressed. The paper opens a clear pathway towards the long-standing goal of a fully deterministic source of indistinguishable photons, which is integrated on a planar photonic chip.

Random walk in generalized quantum theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, Xavier; O'Connor, Denjoe; Sorkin, Rafael D.

2005-01-01

One can view quantum mechanics as a generalization of classical probability theory that provides for pairwise interference among alternatives. Adopting this perspective, we “quantize” the classical random walk by finding, subject to a certain condition of “strong positivity”, the most general Markovian, translationally invariant “decoherence functional” with nearest neighbor transitions.

Experimental preparation of the Werner state via spontaneous parametric down-conversion

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang Yongsheng; Huang Yunfeng; Li Chuanfeng

2002-12-01

We present an experiment for preparing a Werner state via spontaneous parametric down-conversion and controlled decoherence of photons in this paper. In this experiment two independent {beta}-barium borate crystals are used to produce down-conversion light beams, which are mixed to prepare the Werner state.

Experimental purification of two-atom entanglement.

PubMed

Reichle, R; Leibfried, D; Knill, E; Britton, J; Blakestad, R B; Jost, J D; Langer, C; Ozeri, R; Seidelin, S; Wineland, D J

2006-10-19

Entanglement is a necessary resource for quantum applications--entanglement established between quantum systems at different locations enables private communication and quantum teleportation, and facilitates quantum information processing. Distributed entanglement is established by preparing an entangled pair of quantum particles in one location, and transporting one member of the pair to another location. However, decoherence during transport reduces the quality (fidelity) of the entanglement. A protocol to achieve entanglement 'purification' has been proposed to improve the fidelity after transport. This protocol uses separate quantum operations at each location and classical communication to distil high-fidelity entangled pairs from lower-fidelity pairs. Proof-of-principle experiments distilling entangled photon pairs have been carried out. However, these experiments obtained distilled pairs with a low probability of success and required destruction of the entangled pairs, rendering them unavailable for further processing. Here we report efficient and non-destructive entanglement purification with atomic quantum bits. Two noisy entangled pairs were created and distilled into one higher-fidelity pair available for further use. Success probabilities were above 35 per cent. The many applications of entanglement purification make it one of the most important techniques in quantum information processing.

Generation of entanglement in quantum parametric oscillators using phase control.

PubMed

Gonzalez-Henao, J C; Pugliese, E; Euzzor, S; Abdalah, S F; Meucci, R; Roversi, J A

2015-08-19

The control of quantum entanglement in systems in contact with environment plays an important role in information processing, cryptography and quantum computing. However, interactions with the environment, even when very weak, entail decoherence in the system with consequent loss of entanglement. Here we consider a system of two coupled oscillators in contact with a common heat bath and with a time dependent oscillation frequency. The possibility to control the entanglement of the oscillators by means of an external sinusoidal perturbation applied to the oscillation frequency has been theoretically explored. We demonstrate that the oscillators become entangled exactly in the region where the classical counterpart is unstable, otherwise when the classical system is stable, entanglement is not possible. Therefore, we can control the entanglement swapping from stable to unstable regions by adjusting amplitude and phase of our external controller. We also show that the entanglement rate is approximately proportional to the real part of the Floquet coefficient of the classical counterpart of the oscillators. Our results have the intriguing peculiarity of manipulating quantum information operating on a classical system.

Book Review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Landsman, N. P.

Decoherence is like capitalism. Its proponents regard it as obvious, given human nature, and its success seems overwhelming. Competitors largely belong to the past, or get the impression they do. Consequently, although serious analysis finds deep flaws in it, the promise of huge benefits continues to attract new adherents with the naivety of those who enroll in a pyramid scheme.

Niels Bohr as philosopher of experiment: Does decoherence theory challenge Bohr's doctrine of classical concepts?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camilleri, Kristian; Schlosshauer, Maximilian

2015-02-01

Niels Bohr's doctrine of the primacy of "classical concepts" is arguably his most criticized and misunderstood view. We present a new, careful historical analysis that makes clear that Bohr's doctrine was primarily an epistemological thesis, derived from his understanding of the functional role of experiment. A hitherto largely overlooked disagreement between Bohr and Heisenberg about the movability of the "cut" between measuring apparatus and observed quantum system supports the view that, for Bohr, such a cut did not originate in dynamical (ontological) considerations, but rather in functional (epistemological) considerations. As such, both the motivation and the target of Bohr's doctrine of classical concepts are of a fundamentally different nature than what is understood as the dynamical problem of the quantum-to-classical transition. Our analysis suggests that, contrary to claims often found in the literature, Bohr's doctrine is not, and cannot be, at odds with proposed solutions to the dynamical problem of the quantum-classical transition that were pursued by several of Bohr's followers and culminated in the development of decoherence theory.

Enhancement of pumped current in quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramos, Juan Pablo; Foa, Luis; Apel, Victor Marcelo; Orellana, Pedro

A direct current usually requires the application of a non-zero potential difference between source and drain, but on nanoscale systems (NSS) it is possible to obtain a non-zero current while the potential difference is zero. The effect is known as quantum charge pumping (QCP) and it is due to the interference provided by the existence of a time-dependent potential (TDP). QCP can be generated by a TDP in non-adiabatic limit. An example of this is a system composed by a ring with a dot embedded on it, under the application of an oscillating TDP. By the action of a magnetic field across the system, a pumped current is generated, since time reversal symmetry is broken. Decoherence is crucial, both from a scientific and technological point of view. In NSS it is expected that decoherence, among others things, decreases the QCP amplitude. In this context, we study what is the effect of a bath on the pumped current in our system. We find that for certain values of magnetic flux, the bath-system produce amplification of the pumped current.

Ehrenfest dynamics is purity non-preserving: A necessary ingredient for decoherence

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alonso, J. L.; Instituto de Biocomputacion y Fisica de Sistemas Complejos; Unidad Asociada IQFR-BIFI, Universidad de Zaragoza, Mariano Esquillor s/n, E-50018 Zaragoza

2012-08-07

We discuss the evolution of purity in mixed quantum/classical approaches to electronic nonadiabatic dynamics in the context of the Ehrenfest model. As it is impossible to exactly determine initial conditions for a realistic system, we choose to work in the statistical Ehrenfest formalism that we introduced in Alonso et al. [J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 44, 396004 (2011)]. From it, we develop a new framework to determine exactly the change in the purity of the quantum subsystem along with the evolution of a statistical Ehrenfest system. In a simple case, we verify how and to which extent Ehrenfest statistical dynamicsmore » makes a system with more than one classical trajectory, and an initial quantum pure state become a quantum mixed one. We prove this numerically showing how the evolution of purity depends on time, on the dimension of the quantum state space D, and on the number of classical trajectories N of the initial distribution. The results in this work open new perspectives for studying decoherence with Ehrenfest dynamics.« less

Quantum repeaters based on trapped ions with decoherence-free subspace encoding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwerger, M.; Lanyon, B. P.; Northup, T. E.; Muschik, C. A.; Dür, W.; Sangouard, N.

2017-12-01

Quantum repeaters provide an efficient solution to distribute Bell pairs over arbitrarily long distances. While scalable architectures are demanding regarding the number of qubits that need to be controlled, here we present a quantum repeater scheme aiming to extend the range of present day quantum communications that could be implemented in the near future with trapped ions in cavities. We focus on an architecture where ion-photon entangled states are created locally and subsequently processed with linear optics to create elementary links of ion-ion entangled states. These links are then used to distribute entangled pairs over long distances using successive entanglement swapping operations performed using deterministic ion-ion gates. We show how this architecture can be implemented while encoding the qubits in a decoherence-free subspace to protect them against collective dephasing. This results in a protocol that can be used to violate a Bell inequality over distances of about 800 km assuming state-of-the-art parameters. We discuss how this could be improved to several thousand kilometres in future setups.

Dealing with quantum weirdness: Holism and related issues

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Elby, Andrew Richard

1995-12-01

Various issues are discussed in interpretation of quantum mechanics. All these explorations point toward the same conclusion, that some systems are holistically connected, i.e., some composite systems have properties that cannot, even in principle, be reduced to the properties of its subsystems. This is argued to be the central metaphysical lesson of quantum theory; this will remain pertinent even if quantum mechanics gets replaced by a superior theory. Chap. 2 discusses nonlocality and rules out hidden-variable theories that approximately reproduce the perfect correlations of quantum mechanics, as well as theories that obey locality conditions weaker than those needed to derivemore » Bell`s inequality. Chap. 3 shows that SQUID experiments can rule out non-invasive measurability if not macrorealism. Chap. 4 looks at interpretational issues surrounding decoherence, the dissipative interaction between a system and its environment. Decoherence klcan help ``modal`` interpretations pick out the desired ``preferred`` basis. Chap. 5 explores what varieties of causation can and cannot ``explain`` EPR correlations. Instead of relying on ``watered down`` causal explanations, we should instead develop new, holistic explanatory frameworks.« less

F -state quenching with CH 4 for buffer-gas cooled 171 Y b + frequency standard [Methane (CH4) for quenching the F-state in trapped Yb+ ions].

DOE PAGES

Jau, Y. -Y.; Hunker, J. D.; Schwindt, P. D. D.

2015-11-01

We report that methane, CH 4, can be used as an efficient F-state quenching gas for trapped ytterbium ions. The quenching rate coefficient is measured to be (2.8 ± 0.3) × 10 6 s -1 Torr -1. For applications that use microwave hyperfine transitions of the ground-state 171Y b ions, the CH4 induced frequency shift coefficient and the decoherence rate coefficient are measured as δν/ν = (-3.6 ± 0.1) × 10 -6 Torr -1 and 1/T2 = (1.5 ± 0.2) × 10 5 s -1 Torr -1. In our buffer-gas cooled 171Y b+ microwave clock system, we find that onlymore » ≤10 -8 Torr of CH 4 is required under normal operating conditions to efficiently clear the F-state and maintain ≥85% of trapped ions in the ground state with insignificant pressure shift and collisional decoherence of the clock resonance.« less

Noisy relativistic quantum games in noninertial frames

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Salman; Khan, M. Khalid

2013-02-01

The influence of noise and of Unruh effect on quantum Prisoners' dilemma is investigated both for entangled and unentangled initial states. The noise is incorporated through amplitude damping channel. For unentangled initial state, the decoherence compensates for the adverse effect of acceleration of the frame and the effect of acceleration becomes irrelevant provided the game is fully decohered. It is shown that the inertial player always out scores the noninertial player by choosing defection. For maximally entangled initially state, we show that for fully decohered case every strategy profile results in either of the two possible equilibrium outcomes. Two of the four possible strategy profiles become Pareto optimal and Nash equilibrium and no dilemma is leftover. It is shown that other equilibrium points emerge for different region of values of decoherence parameter that are either Pareto optimal or Pareto inefficient in the quantum strategic spaces. It is shown that the Eisert et al. (Phys Rev Lett 83:3077, 1999) miracle move is a special move that leads always to distinguishable results compare to other moves. We show that the dilemma like situation is resolved in favor of one player or the other.

Reduced-Density-Matrix Description of Decoherence and Relaxation Processes for Electron-Spin Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobs, Verne

2017-04-01

Electron-spin systems are investigated using a reduced-density-matrix description. Applications of interest include trapped atomic systems in optical lattices, semiconductor quantum dots, and vacancy defect centers in solids. Complimentary time-domain (equation-of-motion) and frequency-domain (resolvent-operator) formulations are self-consistently developed. The general non-perturbative and non-Markovian formulations provide a fundamental framework for systematic evaluations of corrections to the standard Born (lowest-order-perturbation) and Markov (short-memory-time) approximations. Particular attention is given to decoherence and relaxation processes, as well as spectral-line broadening phenomena, that are induced by interactions with photons, phonons, nuclear spins, and external electric and magnetic fields. These processes are treated either as coherent interactions or as environmental interactions. The environmental interactions are incorporated by means of the general expressions derived for the time-domain and frequency-domain Liouville-space self-energy operators, for which the tetradic-matrix elements are explicitly evaluated in the diagonal-resolvent, lowest-order, and Markov (short-memory time) approximations. Work supported by the Office of Naval Research through the Basic Research Program at The Naval Research Laboratory.

Shot-noise dominant regime of a nanoparticle in a laser beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Changchun; Robicheaux, Francis

2017-04-01

The technique of laser levitation of nanoparticles has become increasingly promising in the study of cooling and controlling mesoscopic quantum systems. Unlike a mechanical system, the levitated nanoparticle is less exposed to thermalization and decoherence due to the absence of direct contact with a thermal environment. In ultrahigh vacuum, the dominant source of decoherence comes from the unavoidable photon recoil from the optical trap which sets an ultimate bound for the control of levitated systems. In this paper, we study the shot noise heating and the parametric feedback cooling of an optically trapped anisotropic nanoparticle in the laser shot noise dominant regime. The rotational trapping frequency and shot noise heating rate have a dependence on the shape of the trapped particle. For an ellipsoidal particle, the ratio of the axis lengths and the overall size controls the shot noise heating rate relative to the rotational frequency. For a near spherical nanoparticle, the effective heating rate for the rotational degrees of freedom is smaller than that for translation suggesting that the librational ground state may be easier to achieve than the vibrational ground state.

Level statistics of disordered spin-1/2 systems and materials with localized Cooper pairs.

PubMed

Cuevas, Emilio; Feigel'man, Mikhail; Ioffe, Lev; Mezard, Marc

2012-01-01

The origin of continuous energy spectra in large disordered interacting quantum systems is one of the key unsolved problems in quantum physics. Although small quantum systems with discrete energy levels are noiseless and stay coherent forever in the absence of any coupling to external world, most large-scale quantum systems are able to produce a thermal bath and excitation decay. This intrinsic decoherence is manifested by a broadening of energy levels, which aquire a finite width. The important question is: what is the driving force and the mechanism of transition(s) between these two types of many-body systems - with and without intrinsic decoherence? Here we address this question via the numerical study of energy-level statistics of a system of interacting spin-1/2 with random transverse fields. We present the first evidence for a well-defined quantum phase transition between domains of discrete and continous many-body spectra in such spin models, implying the appearance of novel insulating phases in the vicinity of the superconductor-insulator transition in InO(x) and similar materials.

Spin Decoherence in III-V Quantum Wells and Superlattices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lau, Wayne H.; Flatté, Michael E.

2001-03-01

Electron spin decoherence in zincblende type quantum wells (QW) and superlattices (SL) near room temperature is dominated by the precessional D'yakonov-Perel' (DP) mechanism. The effective precession is a direct result of the spin splitting of the conduction band due to bulk inversion asymmetry (BIA) of the constituent zincblende semiconductors and also to any native interface asymmetry (NIA) of the heterointerfaces. The effect of BIA is dominant in common atom (CA) systems such as GaAs/AlGaAs QWs. However, in no common atom (NCA) systems such as InAs/GaSb, the interface bonds are different in character from those in the bulk and are asymmetrically oriented (giving rise to NIA). To accurately describe the DP spin relaxation mechanism we employ a nonperturbative nanostructure model based on a fourteen-bulk-band basis, including both BIA and NIA. Quantitative agreement between these calculations and measurements is found for GaAs/AlGaAs, InGaAs/InP, and GaSb/AlSb QW's, as well as for an InAs/GaSb SL.

Improving coherence with nested environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moreno, H. J.; Gorin, T.; Seligman, T. H.

2015-09-01

We have in mind a register of qubits for an quantum information system, and consider its decoherence in an idealized but typical situation. Spontaneous decay and other couplings to the far environment, considered as the world outside the quantum apparatus, will be neglected, while couplings to quantum states within the apparatus, i.e., to a near environment, are assumed to dominate. Thus the central system couples to the near environment, which in turn couples to a far environment. Considering that the dynamics in the near environment is not sufficiently well known or controllable, we shall use random matrix methods to obtain analytic results. We consider a simplified situation where the central system suffers weak dephasing from the near environment, which in turn is coupled randomly to the far environment. We find the anti-intuitive result that increasing the coupling between the near and far environment actually protects the central qubit.

A modular design of molecular qubits to implement universal quantum gates

PubMed Central

Ferrando-Soria, Jesús; Moreno Pineda, Eufemio; Chiesa, Alessandro; Fernandez, Antonio; Magee, Samantha A.; Carretta, Stefano; Santini, Paolo; Vitorica-Yrezabal, Iñigo J.; Tuna, Floriana; Timco, Grigore A.; McInnes, Eric J.L.; Winpenny, Richard E.P.

2016-01-01

The physical implementation of quantum information processing relies on individual modules—qubits—and operations that modify such modules either individually or in groups—quantum gates. Two examples of gates that entangle pairs of qubits are the controlled NOT-gate (CNOT) gate, which flips the state of one qubit depending on the state of another, and the gate that brings a two-qubit product state into a superposition involving partially swapping the qubit states. Here we show that through supramolecular chemistry a single simple module, molecular {Cr7Ni} rings, which act as the qubits, can be assembled into structures suitable for either the CNOT or gate by choice of linker, and we characterize these structures by electron spin resonance spectroscopy. We introduce two schemes for implementing such gates with these supramolecular assemblies and perform detailed simulations, based on the measured parameters including decoherence, to demonstrate how the gates would operate. PMID:27109358

Experimental entanglement distillation and 'hidden' non-locality.

PubMed

Kwiat, P G; Barraza-Lopez, S; Stefanov, A; Gisin, N

2001-02-22

Entangled states are central to quantum information processing, including quantum teleportation, efficient quantum computation and quantum cryptography. In general, these applications work best with pure, maximally entangled quantum states. However, owing to dissipation and decoherence, practically available states are likely to be non-maximally entangled, partially mixed (that is, not pure), or both. To counter this problem, various schemes of entanglement distillation, state purification and concentration have been proposed. Here we demonstrate experimentally the distillation of maximally entangled states from non-maximally entangled inputs. Using partial polarizers, we perform a filtering process to maximize the entanglement of pure polarization-entangled photon pairs generated by spontaneous parametric down-conversion. We have also applied our methods to initial states that are partially mixed. After filtering, the distilled states demonstrate certain non-local correlations, as evidenced by their violation of a form of Bell's inequality. Because the initial states do not have this property, they can be said to possess 'hidden' non-locality.

Robust Learning Control Design for Quantum Unitary Transformations.

PubMed

Wu, Chengzhi; Qi, Bo; Chen, Chunlin; Dong, Daoyi

2017-12-01

Robust control design for quantum unitary transformations has been recognized as a fundamental and challenging task in the development of quantum information processing due to unavoidable decoherence or operational errors in the experimental implementation of quantum operations. In this paper, we extend the systematic methodology of sampling-based learning control (SLC) approach with a gradient flow algorithm for the design of robust quantum unitary transformations. The SLC approach first uses a "training" process to find an optimal control strategy robust against certain ranges of uncertainties. Then a number of randomly selected samples are tested and the performance is evaluated according to their average fidelity. The approach is applied to three typical examples of robust quantum transformation problems including robust quantum transformations in a three-level quantum system, in a superconducting quantum circuit, and in a spin chain system. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the SLC approach and show its potential applications in various implementation of quantum unitary transformations.

Robust distant-entanglement generation using coherent multiphoton scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Ching-Kit; Sham, L. J.

2013-03-01

The generation and controllability of entanglement between distant quantum states have been the heart of quantum computation and quantum information processing. Existing schemes for solid state qubit entanglement are based on the single-photon spectroscopy that has the merit of a high fidelity entanglement creation, but with a very limited efficiency. This severely restricts the scalability for a qubit network system. Here, we describe a new distant entanglement protocol using coherent multiphoton scattering. The scheme makes use of the postselection of large and distinguishable photon signals, and has both a high success probability and a high entanglement fidelity. Our result shows that the entanglement generation is robust against photon fluctuations, and has an average entanglement duration within the decoherence time in various qubit systems, based on existing experimental parameters. This research was supported by the U.S. Army Research Office MURI award W911NF0910406 and by NSF grant PHY-1104446.

Prospect of quantum anomalous Hall and quantum spin Hall effect in doped kagome lattice Mott insulators.

PubMed

Guterding, Daniel; Jeschke, Harald O; Valentí, Roser

2016-05-17

Electronic states with non-trivial topology host a number of novel phenomena with potential for revolutionizing information technology. The quantum anomalous Hall effect provides spin-polarized dissipation-free transport of electrons, while the quantum spin Hall effect in combination with superconductivity has been proposed as the basis for realizing decoherence-free quantum computing. We introduce a new strategy for realizing these effects, namely by hole and electron doping kagome lattice Mott insulators through, for instance, chemical substitution. As an example, we apply this new approach to the natural mineral herbertsmithite. We prove the feasibility of the proposed modifications by performing ab-initio density functional theory calculations and demonstrate the occurrence of the predicted effects using realistic models. Our results herald a new family of quantum anomalous Hall and quantum spin Hall insulators at affordable energy/temperature scales based on kagome lattices of transition metal ions.

Entanglement-enhanced quantum metrology in a noisy environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Kunkun; Wang, Xiaoping; Zhan, Xiang; Bian, Zhihao; Li, Jian; Sanders, Barry C.; Xue, Peng

2018-04-01

Quantum metrology overcomes standard precision limits and plays a central role in science and technology. Practically, it is vulnerable to imperfections such as decoherence. Here we demonstrate quantum metrology for noisy channels such that entanglement with ancillary qubits enhances the quantum Fisher information for phase estimation but not otherwise. Our photonic experiment covers a range of noise for various types of channels, including for two randomly alternating channels such that assisted entanglement fails for each noisy channel individually. We simulate noisy channels by implementing space-multiplexed dual interferometers with quantum photonic inputs. We demonstrate the advantage of entanglement-assisted protocols in a phase estimation experiment run with either a single-probe or multiprobe approach. These results establish that entanglement with ancillae is a valuable approach for delivering quantum-enhanced metrology. Our approach to entanglement-assisted quantum metrology via a simple linear-optical interferometric network with easy-to-prepare photonic inputs provides a path towards practical quantum metrology.

An elementary quantum network using robust nuclear spin qubits in diamond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalb, Norbert; Reiserer, Andreas; Humphreys, Peter; Blok, Machiel; van Bemmelen, Koen; Twitchen, Daniel; Markham, Matthew; Taminiau, Tim; Hanson, Ronald

Quantum registers containing multiple robust qubits can form the nodes of future quantum networks for computation and communication. Information storage within such nodes must be resilient to any type of local operation. Here we demonstrate multiple robust memories by employing five nuclear spins adjacent to a nitrogen-vacancy defect centre in diamond. We characterize the storage of quantum superpositions and their resilience to entangling attempts with the electron spin of the defect centre. The storage fidelity is found to be limited by the probabilistic electron spin reset after failed entangling attempts. Control over multiple memories is then utilized to encode states in decoherence protected subspaces with increased robustness. Furthermore we demonstrate memory control in two optically linked network nodes and characterize the storage capabilities of both memories in terms of the process fidelity with the identity. These results pave the way towards multi-qubit quantum algorithms in a remote network setting.

From entanglement witness to generalized Catalan numbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cohen, E.; Hansen, T.; Itzhaki, N.

2016-07-01

Being extremely important resources in quantum information and computation, it is vital to efficiently detect and properly characterize entangled states. We analyze in this work the problem of entanglement detection for arbitrary spin systems. It is demonstrated how a single measurement of the squared total spin can probabilistically discern separable from entangled many-particle states. For achieving this goal, we construct a tripartite analogy between the degeneracy of entanglement witness eigenstates, tensor products of SO(3) representations and classical lattice walks with special constraints. Within this framework, degeneracies are naturally given by generalized Catalan numbers and determine the fraction of states that are decidedly entangled and also known to be somewhat protected against decoherence. In addition, we introduce the concept of a “sterile entanglement witness”, which for large enough systems detects entanglement without affecting much the system’s state. We discuss when our proposed entanglement witness can be regarded as a sterile one.

From entanglement witness to generalized Catalan numbers.

PubMed

Cohen, E; Hansen, T; Itzhaki, N

2016-07-27

Being extremely important resources in quantum information and computation, it is vital to efficiently detect and properly characterize entangled states. We analyze in this work the problem of entanglement detection for arbitrary spin systems. It is demonstrated how a single measurement of the squared total spin can probabilistically discern separable from entangled many-particle states. For achieving this goal, we construct a tripartite analogy between the degeneracy of entanglement witness eigenstates, tensor products of SO(3) representations and classical lattice walks with special constraints. Within this framework, degeneracies are naturally given by generalized Catalan numbers and determine the fraction of states that are decidedly entangled and also known to be somewhat protected against decoherence. In addition, we introduce the concept of a "sterile entanglement witness", which for large enough systems detects entanglement without affecting much the system's state. We discuss when our proposed entanglement witness can be regarded as a sterile one.

Generation of maximally entangled states and coherent control in quantum dot microlenses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bounouar, Samir; de la Haye, Christoph; Strauß, Max; Schnauber, Peter; Thoma, Alexander; Gschrey, Manuel; Schulze, Jan-Hindrik; Strittmatter, André; Rodt, Sven; Reitzenstein, Stephan

2018-04-01

The integration of entangled photon emitters in nanophotonic structures designed for the broadband enhancement of photon extraction is a major challenge for quantum information technologies. We study the potential of quantum dot (QD) microlenses as efficient emitters of maximally entangled photons. For this purpose, we perform quantum tomography measurements on InGaAs QDs integrated deterministically into microlenses. Even though the studied QDs show non-zero excitonic fine-structure splitting (FSS), polarization entanglement can be prepared with a fidelity close to unity. The quality of the measured entanglement is only dependent on the temporal resolution of the applied single-photon detectors compared to the period of the excitonic phase precession imposed by the FSS. Interestingly, entanglement is kept along the full excitonic wave-packet and is not affected by decoherence. Furthermore, coherent control of the upper biexcitonic state is demonstrated.

From entanglement witness to generalized Catalan numbers

PubMed Central

Cohen, E.; Hansen, T.; Itzhaki, N.

2016-01-01

Being extremely important resources in quantum information and computation, it is vital to efficiently detect and properly characterize entangled states. We analyze in this work the problem of entanglement detection for arbitrary spin systems. It is demonstrated how a single measurement of the squared total spin can probabilistically discern separable from entangled many-particle states. For achieving this goal, we construct a tripartite analogy between the degeneracy of entanglement witness eigenstates, tensor products of SO(3) representations and classical lattice walks with special constraints. Within this framework, degeneracies are naturally given by generalized Catalan numbers and determine the fraction of states that are decidedly entangled and also known to be somewhat protected against decoherence. In addition, we introduce the concept of a “sterile entanglement witness”, which for large enough systems detects entanglement without affecting much the system’s state. We discuss when our proposed entanglement witness can be regarded as a sterile one. PMID:27461089

Study of Atomic Quasi-Stable States, Decoherence And Cooling of Mesoscale Particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Changchun

Quantum mechanics, since its very beginning, has totally changed the way we understand nature. The past hundred years have seen great successes in the application of quantum physics, including atomic spectra, laser technology, condensed matter physics and the remarkable possibility for quantum computing, etc. This thesis is dedicated to a small regime of quantum physics. In the first part of the thesis, I present the studies of atomic quasi-stable states, which refer to those Rydberg states of an atom that are relatively stable in the presence of strong fields. Through spectrally probing the quasi-stable states, series of survival peaks are found. If the quasi-stable electrons were created by ultraviolet (UV) lasers with two different frequencies, the survival peaks could be modulated by continuously changing the phase difference between the UV and the IR laser. The quantum simulation, through directly solving the Schrodinger equation, matches the experimental results performed with microwave fields, and our studies should provide a guidance for future experiments. Despite the huge achievements in the application of quantum theory, there are still some fundamental problems that remain unresolved. One of them is the so-called quantum-to-classical transition, which refers to the expectation that the system behaves in a more classical manner when the system size increases. This basic question was not well answered until decoherence theory was proposed, which states that the coherence of a quantum system tends to be destroyed by environmental interruptions. Thus, if a system is well isolated from its environment, it is in principle possible to observe macroscopic quantum coherence. Quite recently, testing quantum principles in the macroscale has become a hot topic due to rapic technological developments. A very promising platform for testing macroscale quantum physics is a laser levitated nanoparticle, and cooling its mechanical motion to the ground state is the first step. In the second part of this thesis, we develop the theory of decoherence for a mesoscopic system's rotational degrees of freedom. Combining decoherence in the translational degrees of freedom, the system's shot noise heating is discussed. We then focus on cooling the nanoparticle in the laser-shot-noise-dominant regime using two different feedback cooling schemes: the force feedback cooling and the parametric feedback cooling. Both quantum and classical calculations are performed, and an exact match is observed. We also explore the parameters that could possibly affect the cooling trend, where we find that the cooling limit for both cooling schemes strongly depends on the position measurement efficiency, and it poses good questions for researchers interested in achieving ground state cooling: what is the best measurement efficiency for a given measurement setup and what can be done to get a better measurement efficiency?

Internal Spin Control, Squeezing and Decoherence in Ensembles of Alkali Atomic Spins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norris, Leigh Morgan

Large atomic ensembles interacting with light are one of the most promising platforms for quantum information processing. In the past decade, novel applications for these systems have emerged in quantum communication, quantum computing, and metrology. Essential to all of these applications is the controllability of the atomic ensemble, which is facilitated by a strong coupling between the atoms and light. Non-classical spin squeezed states are a crucial step in attaining greater ensemble control. The degree of entanglement present in these states, furthermore, serves as a benchmark for the strength of the atom-light interaction. Outside the broader context of quantum information processing with atomic ensembles, spin squeezed states have applications in metrology, where their quantum correlations can be harnessed to improve the precision of magnetometers and atomic clocks. This dissertation focuses upon the production of spin squeezed states in large ensembles of cold trapped alkali atoms interacting with optical fields. While most treatments of spin squeezing consider only the case in which the ensemble is composed of two level systems or qubits, we utilize the entire ground manifold of an alkali atom with hyperfine spin f greater than or equal to 1/2, a qudit. Spin squeezing requires non-classical correlations between the constituent atomic spins, which are generated through the atoms' collective coupling to the light. Either through measurement or multiple interactions with the atoms, the light mediates an entangling interaction that produces quantum correlations. Because the spin squeezing treated in this dissertation ultimately originates from the coupling between the light and atoms, conventional approaches of improving this squeezing have focused on increasing the optical density of the ensemble. The greater number of internal degrees of freedom and the controllability of the spin-f ground hyperfine manifold enable novel methods of enhancing squeezing. In particular, we find that state preparation using control of the internal hyperfine spin increases the entangling power of squeezing protocols when f>1/2. Post-processing of the ensemble using additional internal spin control converts this entanglement into metrologically useful spin squeezing. By employing a variation of the Holstein-Primakoff approximation, in which the collective spin observables of the atomic ensemble are treated as quadratures of a bosonic mode, we model entanglement generation, spin squeezing and the effects of internal spin control. The Holstein-Primakoff formalism also enables us to take into account the decoherence of the ensemble due to optical pumping. While most works ignore or treat optical pumping phenomenologically, we employ a master equation derived from first principles. Our analysis shows that state preparation and the hyperfine spin size have a substantial impact upon both the generation of spin squeezing and the decoherence of the ensemble. Through a numerical search, we determine state preparations that enhance squeezing protocols while remaining robust to optical pumping. Finally, most work on spin squeezing in atomic ensembles has treated the light as a plane wave that couples identically to all atoms. In the final part of this dissertation, we go beyond the customary plane wave approximation on the light and employ focused paraxial beams, which are more efficiently mode matched to the radiation pattern of the atomic ensemble. The mathematical formalism and the internal spin control techniques that we applied in the plane wave case are generalized to accommodate the non-homogeneous paraxial probe. We find the optimal geometries of the atomic ensemble and the probe for mode matching and generation of spin squeezing.

Internal Spin Control, Squeezing and Decoherence in Ensembles of Alkali Atomic Spins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norris, Leigh Morgan

Large atomic ensembles interacting with light are one of the most promising platforms for quantum information processing. In the past decade, novel applications for these systems have emerged in quantum communication, quantum computing, and metrology. Essential to all of these applications is the controllability of the atomic ensemble, which is facilitated by a strong coupling between the atoms and light. Non-classical spin squeezed states are a crucial step in attaining greater ensemble control. The degree of entanglement present in these states, furthermore, serves as a benchmark for the strength of the atom-light interaction. Outside the broader context of quantum information processing with atomic ensembles, spin squeezed states have applications in metrology, where their quantum correlations can be harnessed to improve the precision of magnetometers and atomic clocks. This dissertation focuses upon the production of spin squeezed states in large ensembles of cold trapped alkali atoms interacting with optical fields. While most treatments of spin squeezing consider only the case in which the ensemble is composed of two level systems or qubits, we utilize the entire ground manifold of an alkali atom with hyperfine spin f greater or equal to 1/2, a qudit. Spin squeezing requires non-classical correlations between the constituent atomic spins, which are generated through the atoms' collective coupling to the light. Either through measurement or multiple interactions with the atoms, the light mediates an entangling interaction that produces quantum correlations. Because the spin squeezing treated in this dissertation ultimately originates from the coupling between the light and atoms, conventional approaches of improving this squeezing have focused on increasing the optical density of the ensemble. The greater number of internal degrees of freedom and the controllability of the spin-f ground hyperfine manifold enable novel methods of enhancing squeezing. In particular, we find that state preparation using control of the internal hyperfine spin increases the entangling power of squeezing protocols when f >1/2. Post-processing of the ensemble using additional internal spin control converts this entanglement into metrologically useful spin squeezing. By employing a variation of the Holstein-Primakoff approximation, in which the collective spin observables of the atomic ensemble are treated as quadratures of a bosonic mode, we model entanglement generation, spin squeezing and the effects of internal spin control. The Holstein-Primakoff formalism also enables us to take into account the decoherence of the ensemble due to optical pumping. While most works ignore or treat optical pumping phenomenologically, we employ a master equation derived from first principles. Our analysis shows that state preparation and the hyperfine spin size have a substantial impact upon both the generation of spin squeezing and the decoherence of the ensemble. Through a numerical search, we determine state preparations that enhance squeezing protocols while remaining robust to optical pumping. Finally, most work on spin squeezing in atomic ensembles has treated the light as a plane wave that couples identically to all atoms. In the final part of this dissertation, we go beyond the customary plane wave approximation on the light and employ focused paraxial beams, which are more efficiently mode matched to the radiation pattern of the atomic ensemble. The mathematical formalism and the internal spin control techniques that we applied in the plane wave case are generalized to accommodate the non-homogeneous paraxial probe. We find the optimal geometries of the atomic ensemble and the probe for mode matching and generation of spin squeezing.

Quantum open system theory: bipartite aspects.

PubMed

Yu, T; Eberly, J H

2006-10-06

We demonstrate in straightforward calculations that even under ideally weak noise the relaxation of bipartite open quantum systems contains elements not previously encountered in quantum noise physics. While additivity of decay rates is known to be generic for decoherence of a single system, we demonstrate that it breaks down for bipartite coherence of even the simplest composite systems.

Aspects of String Dualities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orgera, Jacopo

In this thesis we investigate some aspects of String Dualities. In particular, in the context of Twistor-String/Field Theories duality, we present some partial results toward the understanding of Conformal Supergravity amplitudes. Also, in the context of AdS/CFT duality, we investigate: the role of Euclidean Wormholes in quantum de-coherence and the semiclassical decay of certain non-supersimmetric vacua.

Realizing Controllable Quantum States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takayanagi, Hideaki; Nitta, Junsaku

1. Entanglement in solid states. Orbital entanglement and violation of bell inequalities in mesoscopic conductors / M. Büttiker, P. Samuelsson and E. V. Sukhoruk. Teleportation of electron spins with normal and superconducting dots / O. Sauret, D. Feinberg and T. Martin. Entangled state analysis for one-dimensional quantum spin system: singularity at critical point / A. Kawaguchi and K. Shimizu. Detecting crossed Andreev reflection by cross-current correlations / G. Bignon et al. Current correlations and transmission probabilities for a Y-shaped diffusive conductor / S. K. Yip -- 2. Mesoscopic electronics. Quantum bistability, structural transformation, and spontaneous persistent currents in mesoscopic Aharonov-Bohm loops / I. O. Kulik. Many-body effects on tunneling of electrons in magnetic-field-induced quasi one-dimensional systems in quantum wells / T. Kubo and Y. Tokura. Electron transport in 2DEG narrow channel under gradient magnetic field / M. Hara et al. Transport properties of a quantum wire with a side-coupled quantum dot / M. Yamaguchi et al. Photoconductivity- and magneto-transport studies of single InAs quantum wires / A. Wirthmann et al. Thermoelectric transports in charge-density-wave systems / H. Yoshimoto and S. Kurihara -- 3. Mesoscopic superconductivity. Parity-restricted persistent currents in SNS nanorings / A. D. Zaikin and S. V. Sharov. Large energy dependence of current noise in superconductingh/normal metal junctions / F. Pistolesi and M. Houzet. Generation of photon number states and their superpositions using a superconducting qubit in a microcavity / Yu-Xi Liu, L. F. Wei and F. Nori. Andreev interferometry for pumped currents / F. Taddei, M. Governale and R. Fazio. Suppression of Cooper-pair breaking against high magnetic fields in carbon nanotubes / J. Haruyama et al. Impact of the transport supercurrent on the Josephson effect / S. N. Shevchenko. Josephson current through spin-polarized Luttinger liquid / N. Yokoshi and S. Kurihara -- 4. Mesoscopic superconductivity with unconventional superconductor or ferromagnet. Ultraefficient microrefrigerators realized with ferromagnet-superconductor junctions / F. Giazotto et al. Anomalous charge transport in triplet superconductor junctions by the synergy effect of the proximity effect and the mid gap Andreev resonant states / Y. Tanaka and S. Kashiwaya. Paramagnetic and glass states in superconductive YBa[symbol]Cu[symbol]O[symbol] ceramics of sub-micron scale grains / H. Deguchi et al. Quantum properties of single-domain triplet superconductors / A. M. Gulian and K. S. Wood. A numerical study of Josephson current in p wave superconducting junctions / Y. Asano et al. Tilted bi-crystal sapphire substrates improve properties of grain boundary YBa[symbol]Cu[symbol]O[symbol] junctions and extend their Josephson response to THZ frequencies / E. Stepantsov et al. Circuit theory analysis of AB-plane tunnel junctions of unconventional superconductor Bi[symbol]Sr[symbol]Ca[symbol]Cu[symbol]O[symbol] / I. Shigeta et al. Transport properties of normal metal/anisotropic superconductor junctions in the eutectic system Sr[symbol]RuO[symbol]Ru / M. Kawamura et al. Macroscopic quantum tunneling in d-wave superconductor Josephson / S. Kawabata et al. Quasiparticle states of high-T[symbol] oxides observed by a Zeeman magnetic field response / S. Kashiwaya et al. Experimentally realizable devices for controlling the motion of magnetic flux quanta in anisotropic superconductors: vortex lenses, vortex diodes and vortex pumps / S. Savel'ev and F. Nori. Stability of vortex-antivortex "molecules" in mesoscopic superconducting triangles / V. R. Misko et al. Superconducting network with magnetic decoration - Hofstadter butterfly in spatially modulated magnetic field / Y. Iye et al. Observation of paramagnetic supercurrent in mesoscopic superconducting rings and disks using multiple-small-tunnel-junction method / A. Kanda et al. Guidance of vortices in high-T[stmbol] superconducting thin films with special arrangements of antidots / R. Wöerdenweber, P. Dymashevski and V. R. Misko. Quantum tunneling of relativistic fluxons / K. Konno et al. -- 6. Quantum information processing in solid states. Qubit decoherence by low-frequency noise / K. Rabenstein, V. A. Sverdlov and D. V. Averin. A critique of two-level approximation / K. Savran and T. Hakioǧlu. Josephson arrays as quantum channels / A. Romito, C. Bruder and R. Fazio. Fighting decoherence in a Josephson qubit circuit / E. Collin et al. Fast switching current detection at low critical currents / J. Walter, S. Corlevi and D. Haviland. Asymmetric flux bias for coupled qubits to observe entangled states / Y. Shimazu. Interaction of Josephson qubits with strong QED cavity modes: dynamical entanglement transfer and navigation / G. Falci et al. Controlling decoherence of transported quantum spin information in semiconductor spintronics / B. Nikolic and S. Souma. Decoherence due to telegraph and 1/f noise in Josephson qubits / E. Paladino et al. Detection of entanglement in NMR quantum information processing / R. Rahimi, K. Takeda and M. Kitagawa. Multiphoton absorption and SQUID switching current behaviors in superconducting flux-qubit experiments / H. Takayanagi et al. -- 7. Quantum information theory. Quantum query complexities / K. Iwama. A construction for non-stabilizer Clifford codes / M. Hagiwara and H. Imai. Quantum pushdown automata that can deterministically solve a certain problem / Y. Murakami et al. Trading classical for quantum computation using indirection / R. van Meter. Intractability of the initial arrangement of input data on qubits / Y. Kawano et al. Reversibility of modular squaring / N. Kunihiro, Y. Takahashi and Y. Kawano. Study of proximity effect at D-wave superconductors in quasiclassical methods / Y. Tanuma, Y. Tanaka and S. Kashiwaya -- 8. Spintronics in band electrons. Triplet superconductors: exploitable basis for scalable quantum computing / K. S. Wood et al. Spin excitations in low-dimensional electron gases studied by far-infrared photoconductivity spectroscopy / C.-M. Hu. Control of photogenerated carriers and spins using surface acoustic waves / P. V. Santos, J. A. H. Stotz and R. Hey. PbTe nanostructures for spin filtering and detecting / G. Grabecki. G-factor control in an Ids-inserted InGaAs/InAlAs heterostructure / J. Nitta et al. Spin hall effect in p-type semiconductors / S. Murakami. Spin diffusion in mesoscopic superconducting A1 wires / Y.-S. Shin. H.-J. Lee and H.-W. Lee. Magnetization processes revealed by in-plane DC magnetoresistance measurements on manganite bicrystal thin film devices / R. Gunnarsson. M. Hanson and T. Claeson. Giant magnetoconductance at interface between a two-dimensional hole system and a magnetic semiconductor (Ga, Mn)As / Y. Hashimoto, S. Katsumoto and Y. Iye. Diffusion modes of the transport in diluted magnetic semiconductors / I. Kanazawa. Effect of an invasive voltage probe on the spin polarized current / J. Ohe and T. Ohtsuki -- 9. Spintronics in quantum dots. Tunable exchange interaction and Kondo screening in quantum dot devices / H. Tamura et al. Kondo effect in quantum dots in presence of itinerant-electron magnetism / J. Martinek et al. Optical band edge of II-VI and III-V based diluted magnetic semiconductors / M. Takahashi. Spin-polarized transport properties through double quantum dots / Y. Tanaka and N. Kawakami. RKKY interaction between two quantum dots embedded in an Aharonov-Bohm ring / Y. Utsumi et al. Fabrication and characterization of quantum dot single electron spin resonance devices / T. Kodera et al. Kondo effect in quantum dots with two orbitals and spin 1/2 - crossover from SU (4) to SU (2) symmetry / M. Eto. Detecting spin polarization of electrons in quantum dot edge channels by photoluminescence / S. Nomura. Manipulation of exchange interaction in a double quantum dot / M. Stopa, S. Tarucha and T. Hatano. Electron-density dependence of photoluminescence from Be-[symbol]-doped GaAs quantum wells with a back gate / M. Yamaguchi et al. Direct observation of [symbol]Si nuclear-spin decoherence process / S. Sasaki and S. Watanabe.

Quantum error suppression with commuting Hamiltonians: two local is too local.

PubMed

Marvian, Iman; Lidar, Daniel A

2014-12-31

We consider error suppression schemes in which quantum information is encoded into the ground subspace of a Hamiltonian comprising a sum of commuting terms. Since such Hamiltonians are gapped, they are considered natural candidates for protection of quantum information and topological or adiabatic quantum computation. However, we prove that they cannot be used to this end in the two-local case. By making the favorable assumption that the gap is infinite, we show that single-site perturbations can generate a degeneracy splitting in the ground subspace of this type of Hamiltonian which is of the same order as the magnitude of the perturbation, and is independent of the number of interacting sites and their Hilbert space dimensions, just as in the absence of the protecting Hamiltonian. This splitting results in decoherence of the ground subspace, and we demonstrate that for natural noise models the coherence time is proportional to the inverse of the degeneracy splitting. Our proof involves a new version of the no-hiding theorem which shows that quantum information cannot be approximately hidden in the correlations between two quantum systems. The main reason that two-local commuting Hamiltonians cannot be used for quantum error suppression is that their ground subspaces have only short-range (two-body) entanglement.

Peptides and proteins in matter wave interferometry: Challenges and prospects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sezer, Ugur; Geyer, Philipp; Mairhofer, Lukas; Brand, Christian; Doerre, Nadine; Rodewald, Jonas; Schaetti, Jonas; Koehler, Valentin; Mayor, Marcel; Arndt, Markus

2016-05-01

Recent developments in matter wave physics suggest that quantum interferometry with biologically relevant nanomaterials is becoming feasible for amino acids, peptides, proteins and RNA/DNA strands. Quantum interference of biomolecules is interesting as it can mimic Schrödinger's cat states with molecules of high mass, elevated temperature and biological functionality. Additionally, the high internal complexity can give rise to a rich variety of couplings to the environment and new handles for quantitative tests of quantum decoherence. Finally, matter wave interferometers are highly sensitive force sensors and pave the way for quantum-assisted measurements of biomolecular properties in interaction with tailored or biomimetic environments. Recent interferometer concepts such as the Kapitza-Dirac-Talbot-Lau interferometer (KDTLI) or the Optical Time-domain Matter Wave interferometer (OTIMA) have already proven their potential for quantum optics in the mass range beyond 10000 amu and for metrology. Here we show our advances in quantum interferometry with vitamins and peptides and discuss methods of realizing cold, intense and sufficiently slow beams of synthetically tailored or hydrated polypeptides with promising properties for a new generation of quantum optics.

Unbound states in quantum heterostructures

PubMed Central

Bastard, G

2006-01-01

We report in this review on the electronic continuum states of semiconductor Quantum Wells and Quantum Dots and highlight the decisive part played by the virtual bound states in the optical properties of these structures. The two particles continuum states of Quantum Dots control the decoherence of the excited electron – hole states. The part played by Auger scattering in Quantum Dots is also discussed.

The Fermionic Projector, entanglement and the collapse of the wave function

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finster, Felix

2011-07-01

After a brief introduction to the fermionic projector approach, we review how entanglement and second quantized bosonic and fermionic fields can be described in this framework. The constructions are discussed with regard to decoherence phenomena and the measurement problem. We propose a mechanism leading to the collapse of the wave function in the quantum mechanical measurement process.