The Role of Protein-Mineral Interactions for Protein Adsorption or Fragmentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chacon, S. S.; Reardon, P.; Washton, N.; Kleber, M.

2014-12-01

Soil exo-enzymes (EE) are proteins with the capability to catalyze the depolymerization of soil organic matter (SOM). SOM must be disassembled by EEs in order to be transported through the microbial cell wall and become metabolized. One factor determining an EE's functionality is their affinity to mineral surfaces found in the soil. Our goal was to establish the range of protein modifications, either chemical or structural, as the protein becomes associated with mineral surfaces. We hypothesized that pedogenic oxides would generate more extensive chemical alterations to the protein structure than phyllosilicates. A well-characterized protein proxy (Gb1, IEP 4.0, 6.2 kDA) was adsorbed onto functionally different mineral surfaces (goethite, montmorillonite, kaolinite and birnesite) at pH 5 and pH 7. We used 1H 15N Heteronuclear Single Quantum Coherence Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (HSQC NMR) to observe structural modifications in the unadsorbed Gb1 that was allowed to equilibrate during the adsorption process for kaolinite, goethite and birnessite. Solid state NMR was used to observe the structural modifications of Gb1 while adsorbed onto kaolinite and montmorillonite. Preliminary results in the HSQC NMR spectra observed no changes in the native conformation of Gb1 when allowed to interact with goethite and kaolinite while birnessite induced strong structural modification of Gb1 at an acidic pH. Our results suggest that not all mineral surfaces in soil act as sorbents for EEs and changes in their catalytic activity upon adsorption to minerals surfaces may not just be an indication of conformational changes but of fragmentation of the protein itself.

A Novel Diterpene Glycoside with Nine Glucose Units from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni

PubMed Central

Prakash, Indra; Ma, Gil; Bunders, Cynthia; Charan, Romila D.; Ramirez, Catherine; Devkota, Krishna P.; Snyder, Tara M.

2017-01-01

Following our interest in new diterpene glycosides with better taste profiles than that of Rebaudioside M, we have recently isolated and characterized Rebaudioside IX—a novel steviol glycoside—from a commercially-supplied extract of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. This molecule contains a hexasaccharide group attached at C-13 of the central diterpene core, and contains three additional glucose units when compared with Rebaudioside M. Here we report the complete structure elucidation—based on extensive Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analysis (1H, 13C, Correlation Spectroscopy (COSY), Heteronuclear Single Quantum Coherence-Distortionless Enhancement Polarization Transfer (HSQC-DEPT), Heteronuclear Multiple Bond Correlation (HMBC), 1D Total Correlation Spectroscopy (TOCSY), Nuclear Overhauser Effect Spectroscopy (NOESY)) and mass spectral data—of this novel diterpene glycoside with nine sugar moieties and containing a relatively rare 1→6 α-linked glycoside. A steviol glycoside bearing nine glucose units is unprecedented in the literature, and could have an impact on the natural sweetener catalog. PMID:28146121

A Novel Diterpene Glycoside with Nine Glucose Units from Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni.

PubMed

Prakash, Indra; Ma, Gil; Bunders, Cynthia; Charan, Romila D; Ramirez, Catherine; Devkota, Krishna P; Snyder, Tara M

2017-01-31

Following our interest in new diterpene glycosides with better taste profiles than that of Rebaudioside M, we have recently isolated and characterized Rebaudioside IX-a novel steviol glycoside-from a commercially-supplied extract of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. This molecule contains a hexasaccharide group attached at C-13 of the central diterpene core, and contains three additional glucose units when compared with Rebaudioside M. Here we report the complete structure elucidation-based on extensive Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analysis (1H, 13C, Correlation Spectroscopy (COSY), Heteronuclear Single Quantum Coherence-Distortionless Enhancement Polarization Transfer (HSQC-DEPT), Heteronuclear Multiple Bond Correlation (HMBC), 1D Total Correlation Spectroscopy (TOCSY), Nuclear Overhauser Effect Spectroscopy (NOESY)) and mass spectral data-of this novel diterpene glycoside with nine sugar moieties and containing a relatively rare 16 α-linked glycoside. A steviol glycoside bearing nine glucose units is unprecedented in the literature, and could have an impact on the natural sweetener catalog.

Cannibalism Affects Core Metabolic Processes in Helicoverpa armigera Larvae-A 2D NMR Metabolomics Study.

PubMed

Vergara, Fredd; Shino, Amiu; Kikuchi, Jun

2016-09-02

Cannibalism is known in many insect species, yet its impact on insect metabolism has not been investigated in detail. This study assessed the effects of cannibalism on the metabolism of fourth-instar larvae of the non-predatory insect Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidotera: Noctuidea). Two groups of larvae were analyzed: one group fed with fourth-instar larvae of H. armigera (cannibal), the other group fed with an artificial plant diet. Water-soluble small organic compounds present in the larvae were analyzed using two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and principal component analysis (PCA). Cannibalism negatively affected larval growth. PCA of NMR spectra showed that the metabolic profiles of cannibal and herbivore larvae were statistically different with monomeric sugars, fatty acid- and amino acid-related metabolites as the most variable compounds. Quantitation of ¹H-(13)C HSQC (Heteronuclear Single Quantum Coherence) signals revealed that the concentrations of glucose, glucono-1,5-lactone, glycerol phosphate, glutamine, glycine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, ornithine, proline, threonine and valine were higher in the herbivore larvae.

Trace level detection of compounds related to the chemical weapons convention by 1H-detected 13C NMR spectroscopy executed with a sensitivity-enhanced, cryogenic probehead.

PubMed

Cullinan, David B; Hondrogiannis, George; Henderson, Terry J

2008-04-15

Two-dimensional 1H-13C HSQC (heteronuclear single quantum correlation) and fast-HMQC (heteronuclear multiple quantum correlation) pulse sequences were implemented using a sensitivity-enhanced, cryogenic probehead for detecting compounds relevant to the Chemical Weapons Convention present in complex mixtures. The resulting methods demonstrated exceptional sensitivity for detecting the analytes at trace level concentrations. 1H-13C correlations of target analytes at < or = 25 microg/mL were easily detected in a sample where the 1H solvent signal was approximately 58,000-fold more intense than the analyte 1H signals. The problem of overlapping signals typically observed in conventional 1H spectroscopy was essentially eliminated, while 1H and 13C chemical shift information could be derived quickly and simultaneously from the resulting spectra. The fast-HMQC pulse sequences generated magnitude mode spectra suitable for detailed analysis in approximately 4.5 h and can be used in experiments to efficiently screen a large number of samples. The HSQC pulse sequences, on the other hand, required roughly twice the data acquisition time to produce suitable spectra. These spectra, however, were phase-sensitive, contained considerably more resolution in both dimensions, and proved to be superior for detecting analyte 1H-13C correlations. Furthermore, a HSQC spectrum collected with a multiplicity-edited pulse sequence provided additional structural information valuable for identifying target analytes. The HSQC pulse sequences are ideal for collecting high-quality data sets with overnight acquisitions and logically follow the use of fast-HMQC pulse sequences to rapidly screen samples for potential target analytes. Use of the pulse sequences considerably improves the performance of NMR spectroscopy as a complimentary technique for the screening, identification, and validation of chemical warfare agents and other small-molecule analytes present in complex mixtures and environmental samples.

Dual-component system dimethyl sulfoxide/LiCl as a solvent and catalyst for homogeneous ring-opening grafted polymerization of ε-caprolactone onto xylan.

PubMed

Zhang, Xue-Qin; Chen, Ming-Jie; Liu, Chuan-Fu; Sun, Run-Cang

2014-01-22

The preparation of xylan-graft-poly(ε-caprolactone) (xylan-g-PCL) copolymers was investigated by homogeneous ring-opening polymerization (ROP) in a dual-component system containing Lewis base LiCl and strong polar aprotic solvent dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). DMSO/LiCl acted as solvent, base, and catalyst for the ROP reaction. The effects of the parameters, including the reaction temperature, molar ratio of ε-caprolactone (ε-CL) to anhydroxylose units (AXU) in xylan, and reaction time, on the degree of substitution (DS) and weight percent of PCL side chain (WPCL) were investigated. The results showed that xylan-g-PCL copolymers with low DS in the range of 0.03-0.39 were obtained under the given conditions. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), (13)C NMR, (1)H-(1)H correlation spectroscopy (COSY), and (1)H-(13)C correlation two-dimensional (2D) NMR [heteronuclear single-quantum coherence (HSQC)] characterization provided more evidence of the attachment of side chains onto xylan. Only one ε-CL was confirmed to be attached onto xylan with each side chain. Integration of resonances assigned to the substituted C2 and C3 in the HSQC spectrum also indicated 69.23 and 30.77% of PCL side chains attached to AXU at C3 and C2 positions, respectively. Although the attachment of PCL onto xylan led to the decreased thermal stability of xylan, the loss of unrecovered xylan fractions with low molecular weight because of the high solubility of xylan in DMSO/LiCl resulted in the increased thermal stability of the samples. This kind of xylan derivative has potential application in environmentally friendly and biodegradable materials considering the good biodegradability of xylan and PCL.

Fragment based drug discovery: practical implementation based on ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy.

PubMed

Jordan, John B; Poppe, Leszek; Xia, Xiaoyang; Cheng, Alan C; Sun, Yax; Michelsen, Klaus; Eastwood, Heather; Schnier, Paul D; Nixey, Thomas; Zhong, Wenge

2012-01-26

Fragment based drug discovery (FBDD) is a widely used tool for discovering novel therapeutics. NMR is a powerful means for implementing FBDD, and several approaches have been proposed utilizing (1)H-(15)N heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) as well as one-dimensional (1)H and (19)F NMR to screen compound mixtures against a target of interest. While proton-based NMR methods of fragment screening (FBS) have been well documented and are widely used, the use of (19)F detection in FBS has been only recently introduced (Vulpetti et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc.2009, 131 (36), 12949-12959) with the aim of targeting "fluorophilic" sites in proteins. Here, we demonstrate a more general use of (19)F NMR-based fragment screening in several areas: as a key tool for rapid and sensitive detection of fragment hits, as a method for the rapid development of structure-activity relationship (SAR) on the hit-to-lead path using in-house libraries and/or commercially available compounds, and as a quick and efficient means of assessing target druggability.

Impact of steam explosion on the wheat straw lignin structure studied by solution-state nuclear magnetic resonance and density functional methods.

PubMed

Heikkinen, Harri; Elder, Thomas; Maaheimo, Hannu; Rovio, Stella; Rahikainen, Jenni; Kruus, Kristiina; Tamminen, Tarja

2014-10-29

Chemical changes of lignin induced by the steam explosion (SE) process were elucidated. Wheat straw was studied as the raw material, and lignins were isolated by the enzymatic mild acidolysis lignin (EMAL) procedure before and after the SE treatment for analyses mainly by two-dimensional (2D) [heteronuclear single-quantum coherence (HSQC) and heteronuclear multiple-bond correlation (HMBC)] and (31)P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The β-O-4 structures were found to be homolytically cleaved, followed by recoupling to β-5 linkages. The homolytic cleavage/recoupling reactions were also studied by computational methods, which verified their thermodynamic feasibility. The presence of the tricin bound to wheat straw lignin was confirmed, and it was shown to participate in lignin reactions during the SE treatment. The preferred homolytic β-O-4 cleavage reaction was calculated to follow bond dissociation energies: G-O-G (guaiacyl) (69.7 kcal/mol) > G-O-S (syringyl) (68.4 kcal/mol) > G-O-T (tricin) (67.0 kcal/mol).

Cannibalism Affects Core Metabolic Processes in Helicoverpa armigera Larvae—A 2D NMR Metabolomics Study

PubMed Central

Vergara, Fredd; Shino, Amiu; Kikuchi, Jun

2016-01-01

Cannibalism is known in many insect species, yet its impact on insect metabolism has not been investigated in detail. This study assessed the effects of cannibalism on the metabolism of fourth-instar larvae of the non-predatory insect Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidotera: Noctuidea). Two groups of larvae were analyzed: one group fed with fourth-instar larvae of H. armigera (cannibal), the other group fed with an artificial plant diet. Water-soluble small organic compounds present in the larvae were analyzed using two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and principal component analysis (PCA). Cannibalism negatively affected larval growth. PCA of NMR spectra showed that the metabolic profiles of cannibal and herbivore larvae were statistically different with monomeric sugars, fatty acid- and amino acid-related metabolites as the most variable compounds. Quantitation of 1H-13C HSQC (Heteronuclear Single Quantum Coherence) signals revealed that the concentrations of glucose, glucono-1,5-lactone, glycerol phosphate, glutamine, glycine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, ornithine, proline, threonine and valine were higher in the herbivore larvae. PMID:27598144

From quantum coherence to quantum correlations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Yuan; Mao, Yuanyuan; Luo, Shunlong

2017-06-01

In quantum mechanics, quantum coherence of a state relative to a quantum measurement can be identified with the quantumness that has to be destroyed by the measurement. In particular, quantum coherence of a bipartite state relative to a local quantum measurement encodes quantum correlations in the state. If one takes minimization with respect to the local measurements, then one is led to quantifiers which capture quantum correlations from the perspective of coherence. In this vein, quantum discord, which quantifies the minimal correlations that have to be destroyed by quantum measurements, can be identified as the minimal coherence, with the coherence measured by the relative entropy of coherence. To advocate and formulate this idea in a general context, we first review coherence relative to Lüders measurements which extends the notion of coherence relative to von Neumann measurements (or equivalently, orthonomal bases), and highlight the observation that quantum discord arises as minimal coherence through two prototypical examples. Then, we introduce some novel measures of quantum correlations in terms of coherence, illustrate them through examples, investigate their fundamental properties and implications, and indicate their applications to quantum metrology.

Quantum coherence via skew information and its polygamy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Chang-shui

2017-04-01

Quantifying coherence is a key task in both quantum-mechanical theory and practical applications. Here, a reliable quantum coherence measure is presented by utilizing the quantum skew information of the state of interest subject to a certain broken observable. This coherence measure is proven to fulfill all the criteria (especially the strong monotonicity) recently introduced in the resource theories of quantum coherence. The coherence measure has an analytic expression and an obvious operational meaning related to quantum metrology. In terms of this coherence measure, the distribution of the quantum coherence, i.e., how the quantum coherence is distributed among the multiple parties, is studied and a corresponding polygamy relation is proposed. As a further application, it is found that the coherence measure forms the natural upper bounds for quantum correlations prepared by incoherent operations. The experimental measurements of our coherence measure as well as the relative-entropy coherence and lp-norm coherence are studied finally.

Entropic cohering power in quantum operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xi, Zhengjun; Hu, Ming-Liang; Li, Yongming; Fan, Heng

2018-02-01

Coherence is a basic feature of quantum systems and a common necessary condition for quantum correlations. It is also an important physical resource in quantum information processing. In this paper, using relative entropy, we consider a more general definition of the cohering power of quantum operations. First, we calculate the cohering power of unitary quantum operations and show that the amount of distributed coherence caused by non-unitary quantum operations cannot exceed the quantum-incoherent relative entropy between system of interest and its environment. We then find that the difference between the distributed coherence and the cohering power is larger than the quantum-incoherent relative entropy. As an application, we consider the distributed coherence caused by purification.

Relating quantum coherence and correlations with entropy-based measures.

PubMed

Wang, Xiao-Li; Yue, Qiu-Ling; Yu, Chao-Hua; Gao, Fei; Qin, Su-Juan

2017-09-21

Quantum coherence and quantum correlations are important quantum resources for quantum computation and quantum information. In this paper, using entropy-based measures, we investigate the relationships between quantum correlated coherence, which is the coherence between subsystems, and two main kinds of quantum correlations as defined by quantum discord as well as quantum entanglement. In particular, we show that quantum discord and quantum entanglement can be well characterized by quantum correlated coherence. Moreover, we prove that the entanglement measure formulated by quantum correlated coherence is lower and upper bounded by the relative entropy of entanglement and the entanglement of formation, respectively, and equal to the relative entropy of entanglement for all the maximally correlated states.

More About Robustness of Coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Pi-Yu; Liu, Feng; Xu, Yan-Qin; La, Dong-Sheng

2018-07-01

Quantum coherence is an important physical resource in quantum computation and quantum information processing. In this paper, the distribution of the robustness of coherence in multipartite quantum system is considered. It is shown that the additivity of the robustness of coherence is not always valid for general quantum state, but the robustness of coherence is decreasing under partial trace for any bipartite quantum system. The ordering states with the coherence measures RoC, the l 1 norm of coherence C_{l1} and the relative entropy of coherence C r are also discussed.

Quantum coherence and correlations in quantum system

PubMed Central

Xi, Zhengjun; Li, Yongming; Fan, Heng

2015-01-01

Criteria of measure quantifying quantum coherence, a unique property of quantum system, are proposed recently. In this paper, we first give an uncertainty-like expression relating the coherence and the entropy of quantum system. This finding allows us to discuss the relations between the entanglement and the coherence. Further, we discuss in detail the relations among the coherence, the discord and the deficit in the bipartite quantum system. We show that, the one-way quantum deficit is equal to the sum between quantum discord and the relative entropy of coherence of measured subsystem. PMID:26094795

Extracting quantum coherence via steering

PubMed Central

Hu, Xueyuan; Fan, Heng

2016-01-01

As the precious resource for quantum information processing, quantum coherence can be created remotely if the involved two sites are quantum correlated. It can be expected that the amount of coherence created should depend on the quantity of the shared quantum correlation, which is also a resource. Here, we establish an operational connection between coherence induced by steering and the quantum correlation. We find that the steering-induced coherence quantified by such as relative entropy of coherence and trace-norm of coherence is bounded from above by a known quantum correlation measure defined as the one-side measurement-induced disturbance. The condition that the upper bound saturated by the induced coherence varies for different measures of coherence. The tripartite scenario is also studied and similar conclusion can be obtained. Our results provide the operational connections between local and non-local resources in quantum information processing. PMID:27682450

Measuring coherence with entanglement concurrence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qi, Xianfei; Gao, Ting; Yan, Fengli

2017-07-01

Quantum coherence is a fundamental manifestation of the quantum superposition principle. Recently, Baumgratz et al (2014 Phys. Rev. Lett. 113 140401) presented a rigorous framework to quantify coherence from the view of theory of physical resource. Here we propose a new valid quantum coherence measure which is a convex roof measure, for a quantum system of arbitrary dimension, essentially using the generalized Gell-Mann matrices. Rigorous proof shows that the proposed coherence measure, coherence concurrence, fulfills all the requirements dictated by the resource theory of quantum coherence measures. Moreover, strong links between the resource frameworks of coherence concurrence and entanglement concurrence is derived, which shows that any degree of coherence with respect to some reference basis can be converted to entanglement via incoherent operations. Our work provides a clear quantitative and operational connection between coherence and entanglement based on two kinds of concurrence. This new coherence measure, coherence concurrence, may also be beneficial to the study of quantum coherence.

Effects of quantum coherence on work statistics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Bao-Ming; Zou, Jian; Guo, Li-Sha; Kong, Xiang-Mu

2018-05-01

In the conventional two-point measurement scheme of quantum thermodynamics, quantum coherence is destroyed by the first measurement. But as we know the coherence really plays an important role in the quantum thermodynamics process, and how to describe the work statistics for a quantum coherent process is still an open question. In this paper, we use the full counting statistics method to investigate the effects of quantum coherence on work statistics. First, we give a general discussion and show that for a quantum coherent process, work statistics is very different from that of the two-point measurement scheme, specifically the average work is increased or decreased and the work fluctuation can be decreased by quantum coherence, which strongly depends on the relative phase, the energy level structure, and the external protocol. Then, we concretely consider a quenched one-dimensional transverse Ising model and show that quantum coherence has a more significant influence on work statistics in the ferromagnetism regime compared with that in the paramagnetism regime, so that due to the presence of quantum coherence the work statistics can exhibit the critical phenomenon even at high temperature.

Effect of in Vivo Deuteration on Structure of Switchgrass Lignin

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

Meng, Xianzhi; Evans, Barbara R.; Yoo, Chang Geun

Biomass deuteration is an effective engineering method that can be used to provide key insights into understanding of biomass recalcitrance and the complex biomass conversion process. In this study, production of deuterated switchgrass was accomplished by growing the plants in 50% D 2O under hydroponic conditions in a perfusion chamber. Cellulolytic enzyme lignin was isolated from deuterated switchgrass, characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and compared with its protiated control sample to determine the effect of in vivo deuteration on the chemical structure of lignin. FTIR results showed that D 2Omore » can be taken up by the roots and transported to the leaves, and deuterium was subsequently incorporated into hydroxyl and alkyl groups in the plant and its lignin through photosynthesis. According to GPC results, deuterated lignin had slightly higher molecular weight, presumably due to isotope effects. 31P and heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) NMR results revealed that lignin in the deuterated biomass preserved its native physicochemical characteristics. Finally, the conserved characteristics of the deuterated lignin show its great potential applications for structural and dynamic studies of lignocellulose by techniques such as neutron scattering.« less

Effect of in Vivo Deuteration on Structure of Switchgrass Lignin

DOE PAGES

Meng, Xianzhi; Evans, Barbara R.; Yoo, Chang Geun; ...

2017-07-27

Biomass deuteration is an effective engineering method that can be used to provide key insights into understanding of biomass recalcitrance and the complex biomass conversion process. In this study, production of deuterated switchgrass was accomplished by growing the plants in 50% D 2O under hydroponic conditions in a perfusion chamber. Cellulolytic enzyme lignin was isolated from deuterated switchgrass, characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and compared with its protiated control sample to determine the effect of in vivo deuteration on the chemical structure of lignin. FTIR results showed that D 2Omore » can be taken up by the roots and transported to the leaves, and deuterium was subsequently incorporated into hydroxyl and alkyl groups in the plant and its lignin through photosynthesis. According to GPC results, deuterated lignin had slightly higher molecular weight, presumably due to isotope effects. 31P and heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) NMR results revealed that lignin in the deuterated biomass preserved its native physicochemical characteristics. Finally, the conserved characteristics of the deuterated lignin show its great potential applications for structural and dynamic studies of lignocellulose by techniques such as neutron scattering.« less

Nickel-Catalyzed Proton-Deuterium Exchange (HDX) Procedures for Glycosidic Linkage Analysis of Complex Carbohydrates.

PubMed

Price, Neil P J; Hartman, Trina M; Vermillion, Karl E

2015-07-21

The structural analysis of complex carbohydrates typically requires the assignment of three parameters: monosaccharide composition, the position of glycosidic linkages between monosaccharides, and the position and nature of noncarbohydrate substituents. The glycosidic linkage positions are often determined by permethylation analysis, but this can be complicated by high viscosity or poor solubility, resulting in under-methylation. This is a drawback because an under-methylated position may be misinterpreted as the erroneous site of a linkage or substituent. Here, we describe an alternative approach to linkage analysis that makes use of a nonreversible deuterium exchange of C-H protons on the carbohydrate backbone. The exchange reaction is conducted in deuterated water catalyzed by Raney nickel, and results in the selective exchange of C-H protons adjacent to free hydroxyl groups. Hence, the position of the residual C-H protons is indicative of the position of glycosidic linkages or other substituents and can be readily assigned by heteronuclear single quantum coherence-nuclear magnetic resonance (HSQC-NMR) or, following suitable derivatization, by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) analysis. Moreover, because the only changes to the parent sugar are proton/deuterium exchanges, the composition and linkage analysis can be determined in a single step.

Quantum coherence behaviors of fermionic system in non-inertial frame

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Zhiming; Situ, Haozhen

2018-04-01

In this paper, we analyze the quantum coherence behaviors of a single qubit in the relativistic regime beyond the single-mode approximation. Firstly, we investigate the freezing condition of quantum coherence in fermionic system. We also study the quantum coherence tradeoff between particle and antiparticle sector. It is found that there exists quantum coherence transfer between particle and antiparticle sector, but the coherence lost in particle sector is not entirely compensated by the coherence generation of antiparticle sector. Besides, we emphatically discuss the cohering power and decohering power of Unruh channel with respect to the computational basis. It is shown that cohering power is vanishing and decohering power is dependent of the choice of Unruh mode and acceleration. Finally, we compare the behaviors of quantum coherence with geometric quantum discord and entanglement in relativistic setup. Our results show that this quantifiers in two region converge at infinite acceleration limit, which implies that this measures become independent of Unruh modes beyond the single-mode approximations. It is also demonstrated that the robustness of quantum coherence and geometric quantum discord are better than entanglement under the influence of acceleration, since entanglement undergoes sudden death.

Experimental realization of self-guided quantum coherence freezing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Shang; Wang, Yi-Tao; Ke, Zhi-Jin; Liu, Wei; Zhang, Wen-Hao; Chen, Geng; Tang, Jian-Shun; Li, Chuan-Feng; Guo, Guang-Can

2017-12-01

Quantum coherence is the most essential characteristic of quantum physics, specifcially, when it is subject to the resource-theoretical framework, it is considered as the most fundamental resource for quantum techniques. Other quantum resources, e.g., entanglement, are all based on coherence. Therefore, it becomes urgently important to learn how to preserve coherence in quantum channels. The best preservation is coherence freezing, which has been studied recently. However, in these studies, the freezing condition is theoretically calculated, and there still lacks a practical way to achieve this freezing; in addition the channels are usually fixed, but actually, there are also degrees of freedom that can be used to adapt the channels to quantum states. Here we develop a self-guided quantum coherence freezing method, which can guide either the quantum channels (tunable-channel scheme with upgraded channels) or the initial state (fixed-channel scheme) to the coherence-freezing zone from any starting estimate. Specifically, in the fixed-channel scheme, the final-iterative quantum states all satisfy the previously calculated freezing condition. This coincidence demonstrates the validity of our method. Our work will be helpful for the better protection of quantum coherence.

Detection of Biochemical Pathogens, Laser Stand-off Spectroscopy, Quantum Coherence, and Many Body Quantum Optics

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-02-24

AND SUBTITLE Detection of Biochemical Pathogens, Laser Stand-off Spectroscopy, Quantum Coherence, and Many Body Quantum Optics 6. AUTHORS Marian O...Maximum 200 words) Results of our earlier research in the realm of quantum optics were extended in order to solve the challenging technical problems of...efficient methods of generating UV light via quantum coherence. 14. SUBJECT TERMS Quantum coherence, quantum optics, lasers 15. NUMBER OF PAGES 15

Measuring Quantum Coherence with Entanglement.

PubMed

Streltsov, Alexander; Singh, Uttam; Dhar, Himadri Shekhar; Bera, Manabendra Nath; Adesso, Gerardo

2015-07-10

Quantum coherence is an essential ingredient in quantum information processing and plays a central role in emergent fields such as nanoscale thermodynamics and quantum biology. However, our understanding and quantitative characterization of coherence as an operational resource are still very limited. Here we show that any degree of coherence with respect to some reference basis can be converted to entanglement via incoherent operations. This finding allows us to define a novel general class of measures of coherence for a quantum system of arbitrary dimension, in terms of the maximum bipartite entanglement that can be generated via incoherent operations applied to the system and an incoherent ancilla. The resulting measures are proven to be valid coherence monotones satisfying all the requirements dictated by the resource theory of quantum coherence. We demonstrate the usefulness of our approach by proving that the fidelity-based geometric measure of coherence is a full convex coherence monotone, and deriving a closed formula for it on arbitrary single-qubit states. Our work provides a clear quantitative and operational connection between coherence and entanglement, two landmark manifestations of quantum theory and both key enablers for quantum technologies.

Preparation of freezing quantum state for quantum coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Lian-Wu; Man, Zhong-Xiao; Zhang, Ying-Jie; Han, Feng; Du, Shao-jiang; Xia, Yun-Jie

2018-06-01

We provide a method to prepare the freezing quantum state for quantum coherence via unitary operations. The initial product state consists of the control qubit and target qubit; when it satisfies certain conditions, the initial product state converts into the particular Bell diagonal state under the unitary operations, which have the property of freezing of quantum coherence under quantum channels. We calculate the frozen quantum coherence and corresponding quantum correlations, and find that the quantities are determined by the control qubit only when the freezing phenomena occur.

Performance of quantum cloning and deleting machines over coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karmakar, Sumana; Sen, Ajoy; Sarkar, Debasis

2017-10-01

Coherence, being at the heart of interference phenomena, is found to be an useful resource in quantum information theory. Here we want to understand quantum coherence under the combination of two fundamentally dual processes, viz., cloning and deleting. We found the role of quantum cloning and deletion machines with the consumption and generation of quantum coherence. We establish cloning as a cohering process and deletion as a decohering process. Fidelity of the process will be shown to have connection with coherence generation and consumption of the processes.

Frobenius-norm-based measures of quantum coherence and asymmetry

PubMed Central

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

2016-01-01

We formulate the Frobenius-norm-based measures for quantum coherence and asymmetry respectively. In contrast to the resource theory of coherence and asymmetry, we construct a natural measure of quantum coherence inspired from optical coherence theory while the group theoretical approach is employed to quantify the asymmetry of quantum states. Besides their simple structures and explicit physical meanings, we observe that these quantities are intimately related to the purity (or linear entropy) of the corresponding quantum states. Remarkably, we demonstrate that the proposed coherence quantifier is not only a measure of mixedness, but also an intrinsic (basis-independent) quantification of quantum coherence contained in quantum states, which can also be viewed as a normalized version of Brukner-Zeilinger invariant information. In our context, the asymmetry of N-qubit quantum systems is considered under local independent and collective transformations. In- triguingly, it is illustrated that the collective effect has a significant impact on the asymmetry measure, and quantum correlation between subsystems plays a non-negligible role in this circumstance. PMID:27558009

Quantum coherence: Reciprocity and distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Asutosh

2017-03-01

Quantum coherence is the outcome of the superposition principle. Recently, it has been theorized as a quantum resource, and is the premise of quantum correlations in multipartite systems. It is therefore interesting to study the coherence content and its distribution in a multipartite quantum system. In this work, we show analytically as well as numerically the reciprocity between coherence and mixedness of a quantum state. We find that this trade-off is a general feature in the sense that it is true for large spectra of measures of coherence and of mixedness. We also study the distribution of coherence in multipartite systems by looking at monogamy-type relation-which we refer to as additivity relation-between coherences of different parts of the system. We show that for the Dicke states, while the normalized measures of coherence violate the additivity relation, the unnormalized ones satisfy the same.

Coherent Coupled Qubits for Quantum Annealing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weber, Steven J.; Samach, Gabriel O.; Hover, David; Gustavsson, Simon; Kim, David K.; Melville, Alexander; Rosenberg, Danna; Sears, Adam P.; Yan, Fei; Yoder, Jonilyn L.; Oliver, William D.; Kerman, Andrew J.

2017-07-01

Quantum annealing is an optimization technique which potentially leverages quantum tunneling to enhance computational performance. Existing quantum annealers use superconducting flux qubits with short coherence times limited primarily by the use of large persistent currents Ip. Here, we examine an alternative approach using qubits with smaller Ip and longer coherence times. We demonstrate tunable coupling, a basic building block for quantum annealing, between two flux qubits with small (approximately 50-nA) persistent currents. Furthermore, we characterize qubit coherence as a function of coupler setting and investigate the effect of flux noise in the coupler loop on qubit coherence. Our results provide insight into the available design space for next-generation quantum annealers with improved coherence.

Observable measure of quantum coherence in finite dimensional systems.

PubMed

Girolami, Davide

2014-10-24

Quantum coherence is the key resource for quantum technology, with applications in quantum optics, information processing, metrology, and cryptography. Yet, there is no universally efficient method for quantifying coherence either in theoretical or in experimental practice. I introduce a framework for measuring quantum coherence in finite dimensional systems. I define a theoretical measure which satisfies the reliability criteria established in the context of quantum resource theories. Then, I present an experimental scheme implementable with current technology which evaluates the quantum coherence of an unknown state of a d-dimensional system by performing two programmable measurements on an ancillary qubit, in place of the O(d2) direct measurements required by full state reconstruction. The result yields a benchmark for monitoring quantum effects in complex systems, e.g., certifying nonclassicality in quantum protocols and probing the quantum behavior of biological complexes.

Quantifying quantum coherence with quantum Fisher information.

PubMed

Feng, X N; Wei, L F

2017-11-14

Quantum coherence is one of the old but always important concepts in quantum mechanics, and now it has been regarded as a necessary resource for quantum information processing and quantum metrology. However, the question of how to quantify the quantum coherence has just been paid the attention recently (see, e.g., Baumgratz et al. PRL, 113. 140401 (2014)). In this paper we verify that the well-known quantum Fisher information (QFI) can be utilized to quantify the quantum coherence, as it satisfies the monotonicity under the typical incoherent operations and the convexity under the mixing of the quantum states. Differing from most of the pure axiomatic methods, quantifying quantum coherence by QFI could be experimentally testable, as the bound of the QFI is practically measurable. The validity of our proposal is specifically demonstrated with the typical phase-damping and depolarizing evolution processes of a generic single-qubit state, and also by comparing it with the other quantifying methods proposed previously.

Coherence properties and quantum state transportation in an optical conveyor belt.

PubMed

Kuhr, S; Alt, W; Schrader, D; Dotsenko, I; Miroshnychenko, Y; Rosenfeld, W; Khudaverdyan, M; Gomer, V; Rauschenbeutel, A; Meschede, D

2003-11-21

We have prepared and detected quantum coherences of trapped cesium atoms with long dephasing times. Controlled transport by an "optical conveyor belt" over macroscopic distances preserves the atomic coherence with slight reduction of coherence time. The limiting dephasing effects are experimentally identified, and we present an analytical model of the reversible and irreversible dephasing mechanisms. Our experimental methods are applicable at the single-atom level. Coherent quantum bit operations along with quantum state transport open the route towards a "quantum shift register" of individual neutral atoms.

Fundamental Principles of Coherent-Feedback Quantum Control

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-12-08

in metrology (acceleration sensing, vibrometry, gravity wave detection) and in quantum information processing (continuous-variables quantum ...AFRL-OSR-VA-TR-2015-0009 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF COHERENT-FEEDBACK QUANTUM CONTROL Hideo Mabuchi LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIV CA Final Report 12/08...foundations and potential applications of coherent-feedback quantum control. We have focused on potential applications in quantum -enhanced metrology and

One-Shot Coherence Dilution.

PubMed

Zhao, Qi; Liu, Yunchao; Yuan, Xiao; Chitambar, Eric; Ma, Xiongfeng

2018-02-16

Manipulation and quantification of quantum resources are fundamental problems in quantum physics. In the asymptotic limit, coherence distillation and dilution have been proposed by manipulating infinite identical copies of states. In the nonasymptotic setting, finite data-size effects emerge, and the practically relevant problem of coherence manipulation using finite resources has been left open. This Letter establishes the one-shot theory of coherence dilution, which involves converting maximally coherent states into an arbitrary quantum state using maximally incoherent operations, dephasing-covariant incoherent operations, incoherent operations, or strictly incoherent operations. We introduce several coherence monotones with concrete operational interpretations that estimate the one-shot coherence cost-the minimum amount of maximally coherent states needed for faithful coherence dilution. Furthermore, we derive the asymptotic coherence dilution results with maximally incoherent operations, incoherent operations, and strictly incoherent operations as special cases. Our result can be applied in the analyses of quantum information processing tasks that exploit coherence as resources, such as quantum key distribution and random number generation.

One-Shot Coherence Dilution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Qi; Liu, Yunchao; Yuan, Xiao; Chitambar, Eric; Ma, Xiongfeng

2018-02-01

Manipulation and quantification of quantum resources are fundamental problems in quantum physics. In the asymptotic limit, coherence distillation and dilution have been proposed by manipulating infinite identical copies of states. In the nonasymptotic setting, finite data-size effects emerge, and the practically relevant problem of coherence manipulation using finite resources has been left open. This Letter establishes the one-shot theory of coherence dilution, which involves converting maximally coherent states into an arbitrary quantum state using maximally incoherent operations, dephasing-covariant incoherent operations, incoherent operations, or strictly incoherent operations. We introduce several coherence monotones with concrete operational interpretations that estimate the one-shot coherence cost—the minimum amount of maximally coherent states needed for faithful coherence dilution. Furthermore, we derive the asymptotic coherence dilution results with maximally incoherent operations, incoherent operations, and strictly incoherent operations as special cases. Our result can be applied in the analyses of quantum information processing tasks that exploit coherence as resources, such as quantum key distribution and random number generation.

Protecting quantum coherence of two-level atoms from vacuum fluctuations of electromagnetic field

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

Liu, Xiaobao; Tian, Zehua; Wang, Jieci

In the framework of open quantum systems, we study the dynamics of a static polarizable two-level atom interacting with a bath of fluctuating vacuum electromagnetic field and explore under which conditions the coherence of the open quantum system is unaffected by the environment. For both a single-qubit and two-qubit systems, we find that the quantum coherence cannot be protected from noise when the atom interacts with a non-boundary electromagnetic field. However, with the presence of a boundary, the dynamical conditions for the insusceptible of quantum coherence are fulfilled only when the atom is close to the boundary and is transverselymore » polarizable. Otherwise, the quantum coherence can only be protected in some degree in other polarizable direction. -- Highlights: •We study the dynamics of a two-level atom interacting with a bath of fluctuating vacuum electromagnetic field. •For both a single and two-qubit systems, the quantum coherence cannot be protected from noise without a boundary. •The insusceptible of the quantum coherence can be fulfilled only when the atom is close to the boundary and is transversely polarizable. •Otherwise, the quantum coherence can only be protected in some degree in other polarizable direction.« less

Clock-Work Trade-Off Relation for Coherence in Quantum Thermodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwon, Hyukjoon; Jeong, Hyunseok; Jennings, David; Yadin, Benjamin; Kim, M. S.

2018-04-01

In thermodynamics, quantum coherences—superpositions between energy eigenstates—behave in distinctly nonclassical ways. Here we describe how thermodynamic coherence splits into two kinds—"internal" coherence that admits an energetic value in terms of thermodynamic work, and "external" coherence that does not have energetic value, but instead corresponds to the functioning of the system as a quantum clock. For the latter form of coherence, we provide dynamical constraints that relate to quantum metrology and macroscopicity, while for the former, we show that quantum states exist that have finite internal coherence yet with zero deterministic work value. Finally, under minimal thermodynamic assumptions, we establish a clock-work trade-off relation between these two types of coherences. This can be viewed as a form of time-energy conjugate relation within quantum thermodynamics that bounds the total maximum of clock and work resources for a given system.

Operational resource theory of total quantum coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Si-ren; Yu, Chang-shui

2018-01-01

Quantum coherence is an essential feature of quantum mechanics and is an important physical resource in quantum information. Recently, the resource theory of quantum coherence has been established parallel with that of entanglement. In the resource theory, a resource can be well defined if given three ingredients: the free states, the resource, the (restricted) free operations. In this paper, we study the resource theory of coherence in a different light, that is, we consider the total coherence defined by the basis-free coherence maximized among all potential basis. We define the distillable total coherence and the total coherence cost and in both the asymptotic regime and the single-copy regime show the reversible transformation between a state with certain total coherence and the state with the unit reference total coherence. Extensively, we demonstrate that the total coherence can also be completely converted to the total correlation with the equal amount by the free operations. We also provide the alternative understanding of the total coherence, respectively, based on the entanglement and the total correlation in a different way.

Fluctuation theorems in feedback-controlled open quantum systems: Quantum coherence and absolute irreversibility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murashita, Yûto; Gong, Zongping; Ashida, Yuto; Ueda, Masahito

2017-10-01

The thermodynamics of quantum coherence has attracted growing attention recently, where the thermodynamic advantage of quantum superposition is characterized in terms of quantum thermodynamics. We investigate the thermodynamic effects of quantum coherent driving in the context of the fluctuation theorem. We adopt a quantum-trajectory approach to investigate open quantum systems under feedback control. In these systems, the measurement backaction in the forward process plays a key role, and therefore the corresponding time-reversed quantum measurement and postselection must be considered in the backward process, in sharp contrast to the classical case. The state reduction associated with quantum measurement, in general, creates a zero-probability region in the space of quantum trajectories of the forward process, which causes singularly strong irreversibility with divergent entropy production (i.e., absolute irreversibility) and hence makes the ordinary fluctuation theorem break down. In the classical case, the error-free measurement ordinarily leads to absolute irreversibility, because the measurement restricts classical paths to the region compatible with the measurement outcome. In contrast, in open quantum systems, absolute irreversibility is suppressed even in the presence of the projective measurement due to those quantum rare events that go through the classically forbidden region with the aid of quantum coherent driving. This suppression of absolute irreversibility exemplifies the thermodynamic advantage of quantum coherent driving. Absolute irreversibility is shown to emerge in the absence of coherent driving after the measurement, especially in systems under time-delayed feedback control. We show that absolute irreversibility is mitigated by increasing the duration of quantum coherent driving or decreasing the delay time of feedback control.

Geometric measure of pairwise quantum discord for superpositions of multipartite generalized coherent states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daoud, M.; Ahl Laamara, R.

2012-07-01

We give the explicit expressions of the pairwise quantum correlations present in superpositions of multipartite coherent states. A special attention is devoted to the evaluation of the geometric quantum discord. The dynamics of quantum correlations under a dephasing channel is analyzed. A comparison of geometric measure of quantum discord with that of concurrence shows that quantum discord in multipartite coherent states is more resilient to dissipative environments than is quantum entanglement. To illustrate our results, we consider some special superpositions of Weyl-Heisenberg, SU(2) and SU(1,1) coherent states which interpolate between Werner and Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states.

Distribution of Quantum Coherence in Multipartite Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radhakrishnan, Chandrashekar; Parthasarathy, Manikandan; Jambulingam, Segar; Byrnes, Tim

2016-04-01

The distribution of coherence in multipartite systems is examined. We use a new coherence measure with entropic nature and metric properties, based on the quantum Jensen-Shannon divergence. The metric property allows for the coherence to be decomposed into various contributions, which arise from local and intrinsic coherences. We find that there are trade-off relations between the various contributions of coherence, as a function of parameters of the quantum state. In bipartite systems the coherence resides on individual sites or is distributed among the sites, which contribute in a complementary way. In more complex systems, the characteristics of the coherence can display more subtle changes with respect to the parameters of the quantum state. In the case of the X X Z Heisenberg model, the coherence changes from a monogamous to a polygamous nature. This allows us to define the shareability of coherence, leading to monogamy relations for coherence.

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

Coherence enhanced quantum metrology in a nonequilibrium optical molecule

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhihai; Wu, Wei; Cui, Guodong; Wang, Jin

2018-03-01

We explore the quantum metrology in an optical molecular system coupled to two environments with different temperatures, using a quantum master equation beyond secular approximation. We discover that the steady-state coherence originating from and sustained by the nonequilibrium condition can enhance quantum metrology. We also study the quantitative measures of the nonequilibrium condition in terms of the curl flux, heat current and entropy production at the steady state. They are found to grow with temperature difference. However, an apparent paradox arises considering the contrary behaviors of the steady-state coherence and the nonequilibrium measures in relation to the inter-cavity coupling strength. This paradox is resolved by decomposing the heat current into a population part and a coherence part. Only the latter, the coherence part of the heat current, is tightly connected to the steady-state coherence and behaves similarly with respect to the inter-cavity coupling strength. Interestingly, the coherence part of the heat current flows from the low-temperature reservoir to the high-temperature reservoir, opposite to the direction of the population heat current. Our work offers a viable way to enhance quantum metrology for open quantum systems through steady-state coherence sustained by the nonequilibrium condition, which can be controlled and manipulated to maximize its utility. The potential applications go beyond quantum metrology and extend to areas such as device designing, quantum computation and quantum technology in general.

The Influences of Quantum Coherence on the Positive Work and the Efficiency of Quantum Heat Engine with Working Substance of Two-Qubit Heisenberg XXX Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Hu-Ping; Fang, Mao-Fa; Yu, Min; Zou, Hong-Mei

2018-03-01

We study the influences of quantum coherence on the positive work and the efficiency of quantum heat engine (QHE) based on working substance of two-qubit Heisenberg model under a constant external magnetic field. By using analytical and numerical solution, we give the relation expressions for both the positive work and the efficiency with quantum coherence, and in detail discuss the effects of the quantum coherence on the positive work and the efficiency of QHE in the absence or presence of external magnetic field, respectively.

The Influences of Quantum Coherence on the Positive Work and the Efficiency of Quantum Heat Engine with Working Substance of Two-Qubit Heisenberg XXX Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Hu-Ping; Fang, Mao-Fa; Yu, Min; Zou, Hong-Mei

2018-06-01

We study the influences of quantum coherence on the positive work and the efficiency of quantum heat engine (QHE) based on working substance of two-qubit Heisenberg model under a constant external magnetic field. By using analytical and numerical solution, we give the relation expressions for both the positive work and the efficiency with quantum coherence, and in detail discuss the effects of the quantum coherence on the positive work and the efficiency of QHE in the absence or presence of external magnetic field, respectively.

Experimental Quantum Randomness Processing Using Superconducting Qubits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Xiao; Liu, Ke; Xu, Yuan; Wang, Weiting; Ma, Yuwei; Zhang, Fang; Yan, Zhaopeng; Vijay, R.; Sun, Luyan; Ma, Xiongfeng

2016-07-01

Coherently manipulating multipartite quantum correlations leads to remarkable advantages in quantum information processing. A fundamental question is whether such quantum advantages persist only by exploiting multipartite correlations, such as entanglement. Recently, Dale, Jennings, and Rudolph negated the question by showing that a randomness processing, quantum Bernoulli factory, using quantum coherence, is strictly more powerful than the one with classical mechanics. In this Letter, focusing on the same scenario, we propose a theoretical protocol that is classically impossible but can be implemented solely using quantum coherence without entanglement. We demonstrate the protocol by exploiting the high-fidelity quantum state preparation and measurement with a superconducting qubit in the circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture and a nearly quantum-limited parametric amplifier. Our experiment shows the advantage of using quantum coherence of a single qubit for information processing even when multipartite correlation is not present.

Multiple quantum coherence spectroscopy.

PubMed

Mathew, Nathan A; Yurs, Lena A; Block, Stephen B; Pakoulev, Andrei V; Kornau, Kathryn M; Wright, John C

2009-08-20

Multiple quantum coherences provide a powerful approach for studies of complex systems because increasing the number of quantum states in a quantum mechanical superposition state increases the selectivity of a spectroscopic measurement. We show that frequency domain multiple quantum coherence multidimensional spectroscopy can create these superposition states using different frequency excitation pulses. The superposition state is created using two excitation frequencies to excite the symmetric and asymmetric stretch modes in a rhodium dicarbonyl chelate and the dynamic Stark effect to climb the vibrational ladders involving different overtone and combination band states. A monochromator resolves the free induction decay of different coherences comprising the superposition state. The three spectral dimensions provide the selectivity required to observe 19 different spectral features associated with fully coherent nonlinear processes involving up to 11 interactions with the excitation fields. The different features act as spectroscopic probes of the diagonal and off-diagonal parts of the molecular potential energy hypersurface. This approach can be considered as a coherent pump-probe spectroscopy where the pump is a series of excitation pulses that prepares a multiple quantum coherence and the probe is another series of pulses that creates the output coherence.

Complete Coherent Control of a Quantum Dot Strongly Coupled to a Nanocavity.

PubMed

Dory, Constantin; Fischer, Kevin A; Müller, Kai; Lagoudakis, Konstantinos G; Sarmiento, Tomas; Rundquist, Armand; Zhang, Jingyuan L; Kelaita, Yousif; Vučković, Jelena

2016-04-26

Strongly coupled quantum dot-cavity systems provide a non-linear configuration of hybridized light-matter states with promising quantum-optical applications. Here, we investigate the coherent interaction between strong laser pulses and quantum dot-cavity polaritons. Resonant excitation of polaritonic states and their interaction with phonons allow us to observe coherent Rabi oscillations and Ramsey fringes. Furthermore, we demonstrate complete coherent control of a quantum dot-photonic crystal cavity based quantum-bit. By controlling the excitation power and phase in a two-pulse excitation scheme we achieve access to the full Bloch sphere. Quantum-optical simulations are in good agreement with our experiments and provide insight into the decoherence mechanisms.

Complete Coherent Control of a Quantum Dot Strongly Coupled to a Nanocavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dory, Constantin; Fischer, Kevin A.; Müller, Kai; Lagoudakis, Konstantinos G.; Sarmiento, Tomas; Rundquist, Armand; Zhang, Jingyuan L.; Kelaita, Yousif; Vučković, Jelena

2016-04-01

Strongly coupled quantum dot-cavity systems provide a non-linear configuration of hybridized light-matter states with promising quantum-optical applications. Here, we investigate the coherent interaction between strong laser pulses and quantum dot-cavity polaritons. Resonant excitation of polaritonic states and their interaction with phonons allow us to observe coherent Rabi oscillations and Ramsey fringes. Furthermore, we demonstrate complete coherent control of a quantum dot-photonic crystal cavity based quantum-bit. By controlling the excitation power and phase in a two-pulse excitation scheme we achieve access to the full Bloch sphere. Quantum-optical simulations are in good agreement with our experiments and provide insight into the decoherence mechanisms.

Enhancing light-harvesting power with coherent vibrational interactions: A quantum heat engine picture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Killoran, N.; Huelga, S. F.; Plenio, M. B.

2015-10-01

Recent evidence suggests that quantum effects may have functional importance in biological light-harvesting systems. Along with delocalized electronic excitations, it is now suspected that quantum coherent interactions with certain near-resonant vibrations may contribute to light-harvesting performance. However, the actual quantum advantage offered by such coherent vibrational interactions has not yet been established. We investigate a quantum design principle, whereby coherent exchange of single energy quanta between electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom can enhance a light-harvesting system's power above what is possible by thermal mechanisms alone. We present a prototype quantum heat engine which cleanly illustrates this quantum design principle and quantifies its quantum advantage using thermodynamic measures of performance. We also demonstrate the principle's relevance in parameter regimes connected to natural light-harvesting structures.

Substantially Enhancing Quantum Coherence of Electrons in Graphene via Electron-Plasmon Coupling.

PubMed

Cheng, Guanghui; Qin, Wei; Lin, Meng-Hsien; Wei, Laiming; Fan, Xiaodong; Zhang, Huayang; Gwo, Shangjr; Zeng, Changgan; Hou, J G; Zhang, Zhenyu

2017-10-13

The interplays between different quasiparticles in solids lay the foundation for a wide spectrum of intriguing quantum effects, yet how the collective plasmon excitations affect the quantum transport of electrons remains largely unexplored. Here we provide the first demonstration that when the electron-plasmon coupling is introduced, the quantum coherence of electrons in graphene is substantially enhanced with the quantum coherence length almost tripled. We further develop a microscopic model to interpret the striking observations, emphasizing the vital role of the graphene plasmons in suppressing electron-electron dephasing. The novel and transformative concept of plasmon-enhanced quantum coherence sheds new insight into interquasiparticle interactions, and further extends a new dimension to exploit nontrivial quantum phenomena and devices in solid systems.

Optical communication with two-photon coherent stages. I - Quantum-state propagation and quantum-noise reduction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yuen, H. P.; Shapiro, J. H.

1978-01-01

To determine the ultimate performance limitations imposed by quantum effects, it is also essential to consider optimum quantum-state generation. Certain 'generalized' coherent states of the radiation field possess novel quantum noise characteristics that offer the potential for greatly improved optical communications. These states have been called two-photon coherent states because they can be generated, in principle, by stimulated two-photon processes. The use of two-photon coherent state (TCS) radiation in free-space optical communications is considered. A simple theory of quantum state propagation is developed. The theory provides the basis for representing the free-space channel in a quantum-mechanical form convenient for communication analysis. The new theory is applied to TCS radiation.

Adiabatic Quantum Computation: Coherent Control Back Action.

PubMed

Goswami, Debabrata

2006-11-22

Though attractive from scalability aspects, optical approaches to quantum computing are highly prone to decoherence and rapid population loss due to nonradiative processes such as vibrational redistribution. We show that such effects can be reduced by adiabatic coherent control, in which quantum interference between multiple excitation pathways is used to cancel coupling to the unwanted, non-radiative channels. We focus on experimentally demonstrated adiabatic controlled population transfer experiments wherein the details on the coherence aspects are yet to be explored theoretically but are important for quantum computation. Such quantum computing schemes also form a back-action connection to coherent control developments.

Asymmetry and coherence weight of quantum states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bu, Kaifeng; Anand, Namit; Singh, Uttam

2018-03-01

The asymmetry of quantum states is an important resource in quantum information processing tasks such as quantum metrology and quantum communication. In this paper, we introduce the notion of asymmetry weight—an operationally motivated asymmetry quantifier in the resource theory of asymmetry. We study the convexity and monotonicity properties of asymmetry weight and focus on its interplay with the corresponding semidefinite programming (SDP) forms along with its connection to other asymmetry measures. Since the SDP form of asymmetry weight is closely related to asymmetry witnesses, we find that the asymmetry weight can be regarded as a (state-dependent) asymmetry witness. Moreover, some specific entanglement witnesses can be viewed as a special case of an asymmetry witness—which indicates a potential connection between asymmetry and entanglement. We also provide an operationally meaningful coherence measure, which we term coherence weight, and investigate its relationship to other coherence measures like the robustness of coherence and the l1 norm of coherence. In particular, we show that for Werner states in any dimension d all three coherence quantifiers, namely, the coherence weight, the robustness of coherence, and the l1 norm of coherence, are equal and are given by a single letter formula.

Directly Measuring the Degree of Quantum Coherence using Interference Fringes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yi-Tao; Tang, Jian-Shun; Wei, Zhi-Yuan; Yu, Shang; Ke, Zhi-Jin; Xu, Xiao-Ye; Li, Chuan-Feng; Guo, Guang-Can

2017-01-01

Quantum coherence is the most distinguished feature of quantum mechanics. It lies at the heart of the quantum-information technologies as the fundamental resource and is also related to other quantum resources, including entanglement. It plays a critical role in various fields, even in biology. Nevertheless, the rigorous and systematic resource-theoretic framework of coherence has just been developed recently, and several coherence measures are proposed. Experimentally, the usual method to measure coherence is to perform state tomography and use mathematical expressions. Here, we alternatively develop a method to measure coherence directly using its most essential behavior—the interference fringes. The ancilla states are mixed into the target state with various ratios, and the minimal ratio that makes the interference fringes of the "mixed state" vanish is taken as the quantity of coherence. We also use the witness observable to witness coherence, and the optimal witness constitutes another direct method to measure coherence. For comparison, we perform tomography and calculate l1 norm of coherence, which coincides with the results of the other two methods in our situation. Our methods are explicit and robust, providing a nice alternative to the tomographic technique.

Directly Measuring the Degree of Quantum Coherence using Interference Fringes.

PubMed

Wang, Yi-Tao; Tang, Jian-Shun; Wei, Zhi-Yuan; Yu, Shang; Ke, Zhi-Jin; Xu, Xiao-Ye; Li, Chuan-Feng; Guo, Guang-Can

2017-01-13

Quantum coherence is the most distinguished feature of quantum mechanics. It lies at the heart of the quantum-information technologies as the fundamental resource and is also related to other quantum resources, including entanglement. It plays a critical role in various fields, even in biology. Nevertheless, the rigorous and systematic resource-theoretic framework of coherence has just been developed recently, and several coherence measures are proposed. Experimentally, the usual method to measure coherence is to perform state tomography and use mathematical expressions. Here, we alternatively develop a method to measure coherence directly using its most essential behavior-the interference fringes. The ancilla states are mixed into the target state with various ratios, and the minimal ratio that makes the interference fringes of the "mixed state" vanish is taken as the quantity of coherence. We also use the witness observable to witness coherence, and the optimal witness constitutes another direct method to measure coherence. For comparison, we perform tomography and calculate l_{1} norm of coherence, which coincides with the results of the other two methods in our situation. Our methods are explicit and robust, providing a nice alternative to the tomographic technique.

Coherence, quantum Fisher information, superradiance, and entanglement as interconvertible resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Kok Chuan; Choi, Seongjeon; Kwon, Hyukjoon; Jeong, Hyunseok

2018-05-01

We demonstrate that quantum Fisher information and superradiance can be formulated as coherence measures in accordance with the resource theory of coherence, thus establishing a direct link between metrological resources, superradiance, and coherence. The arguments are generalized to show that coherence may be considered as the underlying fundamental resource for any functional of state that is first of all faithful, and second, concave or linear. It is also shown that quantum Fisher information and the superradiant quantity are in fact antithetical resources in the sense that if coherence were directed to saturate one quantity, then it must come at the expense of the other. Finally, a key result of the paper is to demonstrate that coherence, quantum Fisher information, superradiant quantity, and entanglement are mutually interconvertible resources under incoherent operations.

31P-edited diffusion-ordered 1H NMR spectroscopy for the spectral isolation and identification of organophosphorus compounds related to chemical weapons agents and their degradation products.

PubMed

Mayer, Brian P; Valdez, Carlos A; Hok, Saphon; Chinn, Sarah C; Hart, Bradley R

2012-12-04

Organophosphorus compounds represent a large class of molecules that include pesticides, flame-retardants, biologically relevant molecules, and chemical weapons agents (CWAs). The detection and identification of organophosphorus molecules, particularly in the cases of pesticides and CWAs, are paramount to the verification of international treaties by various organizations. To that end, novel analytical methodologies that can provide additional support to traditional analyses are important for unambiguous identification of these compounds. We have developed an NMR method that selectively edits for organophosphorus compounds via (31)P-(1)H heteronuclear single quantum correlation (HSQC) and provides an additional chromatographic-like separation based on self-diffusivities of the individual species via (1)H diffusion-ordered spectroscopy (DOSY): (1)H-(31)P HSQC-DOSY. The technique is first validated using the CWA VX (O-ethyl S-[2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl] methylphosphonothioate) by traditional two-dimensional DOSY spectra. We then extend this technique to a complex mixture of VX degradation products and identify all the main phosphorus-containing byproducts generated after exposure to a zinc-cyclen organometallic homogeneous catalyst.

Squeezed light in an optical parametric oscillator network with coherent feedback quantum control.

PubMed

Crisafulli, Orion; Tezak, Nikolas; Soh, Daniel B S; Armen, Michael A; Mabuchi, Hideo

2013-07-29

We present squeezing and anti-squeezing spectra of the output from a degenerate optical parametric oscillator (OPO) network arranged in different coherent quantum feedback configurations. One OPO serves as a quantum plant, the other as a quantum controller. The addition of coherent feedback enables shaping of the output squeezing spectrum of the plant, and is found to be capable of pushing the frequency of maximum squeezing away from the optical driving frequency and broadening the spectrum over a wider frequency band. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with the developed theory, and illustrate the use of coherent quantum feedback to engineer the quantum-optical properties of the plant OPO output.

Quantum coherence generating power, maximally abelian subalgebras, and Grassmannian geometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zanardi, Paolo; Campos Venuti, Lorenzo

2018-01-01

We establish a direct connection between the power of a unitary map in d-dimensions (d < ∞) to generate quantum coherence and the geometry of the set Md of maximally abelian subalgebras (of the quantum system full operator algebra). This set can be seen as a topologically non-trivial subset of the Grassmannian over linear operators. The natural distance over the Grassmannian induces a metric structure on Md, which quantifies the lack of commutativity between the pairs of subalgebras. Given a maximally abelian subalgebra, one can define, on physical grounds, an associated measure of quantum coherence. We show that the average quantum coherence generated by a unitary map acting on a uniform ensemble of quantum states in the algebra (the so-called coherence generating power of the map) is proportional to the distance between a pair of maximally abelian subalgebras in Md connected by the unitary transformation itself. By embedding the Grassmannian into a projective space, one can pull-back the standard Fubini-Study metric on Md and define in this way novel geometrical measures of quantum coherence generating power. We also briefly discuss the associated differential metric structures.

Coherent coupling of a superconducting flux qubit to an electron spin ensemble in diamond.

PubMed

Zhu, Xiaobo; Saito, Shiro; Kemp, Alexander; Kakuyanagi, Kosuke; Karimoto, Shin-ichi; Nakano, Hayato; Munro, William J; Tokura, Yasuhiro; Everitt, Mark S; Nemoto, Kae; Kasu, Makoto; Mizuochi, Norikazu; Semba, Kouichi

2011-10-12

During the past decade, research into superconducting quantum bits (qubits) based on Josephson junctions has made rapid progress. Many foundational experiments have been performed, and superconducting qubits are now considered one of the most promising systems for quantum information processing. However, the experimentally reported coherence times are likely to be insufficient for future large-scale quantum computation. A natural solution to this problem is a dedicated engineered quantum memory based on atomic and molecular systems. The question of whether coherent quantum coupling is possible between such natural systems and a single macroscopic artificial atom has attracted considerable attention since the first demonstration of macroscopic quantum coherence in Josephson junction circuits. Here we report evidence of coherent strong coupling between a single macroscopic superconducting artificial atom (a flux qubit) and an ensemble of electron spins in the form of nitrogen-vacancy colour centres in diamond. Furthermore, we have observed coherent exchange of a single quantum of energy between a flux qubit and a macroscopic ensemble consisting of about 3 × 10(7) such colour centres. This provides a foundation for future quantum memories and hybrid devices coupling microwave and optical systems.

Optimal quantum operations at zero energy cost

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiribella, Giulio; Yang, Yuxiang

2017-08-01

Quantum technologies are developing powerful tools to generate and manipulate coherent superpositions of different energy levels. Envisaging a new generation of energy-efficient quantum devices, here we explore how coherence can be manipulated without exchanging energy with the surrounding environment. We start from the task of converting a coherent superposition of energy eigenstates into another. We identify the optimal energy-preserving operations, both in the deterministic and in the probabilistic scenario. We then design a recursive protocol, wherein a branching sequence of energy-preserving filters increases the probability of success while reaching maximum fidelity at each iteration. Building on the recursive protocol, we construct efficient approximations of the optimal fidelity-probability trade-off, by taking coherent superpositions of the different branches generated by probabilistic filtering. The benefits of this construction are illustrated in applications to quantum metrology, quantum cloning, coherent state amplification, and ancilla-driven computation. Finally, we extend our results to transitions where the input state is generally mixed and we apply our findings to the task of purifying quantum coherence.

Enhancing light-harvesting power with coherent vibrational interactions: A quantum heat engine picture

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

Killoran, N.; Huelga, S. F.; Plenio, M. B.

Recent evidence suggests that quantum effects may have functional importance in biological light-harvesting systems. Along with delocalized electronic excitations, it is now suspected that quantum coherent interactions with certain near-resonant vibrations may contribute to light-harvesting performance. However, the actual quantum advantage offered by such coherent vibrational interactions has not yet been established. We investigate a quantum design principle, whereby coherent exchange of single energy quanta between electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom can enhance a light-harvesting system’s power above what is possible by thermal mechanisms alone. We present a prototype quantum heat engine which cleanly illustrates this quantum design principlemore » and quantifies its quantum advantage using thermodynamic measures of performance. We also demonstrate the principle’s relevance in parameter regimes connected to natural light-harvesting structures.« less

Ordering states with various coherence measures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Long-Mei; Chen, Bin; Fei, Shao-Ming; Wang, Zhi-Xi

2018-04-01

Quantum coherence is one of the most significant theories in quantum physics. Ordering states with various coherence measures is an intriguing task in quantification theory of coherence. In this paper, we study this problem by use of four important coherence measures—the l_1 norm of coherence, the relative entropy of coherence, the geometric measure of coherence and the modified trace distance measure of coherence. We show that each pair of these measures give a different ordering of qudit states when d≥3. However, for single-qubit states, the l_1 norm of coherence and the geometric coherence provide the same ordering. We also show that the relative entropy of coherence and the geometric coherence give a different ordering for single-qubit states. Then we partially answer the open question proposed in Liu et al. (Quantum Inf Process 15:4189, 2016) whether all the coherence measures give a different ordering of states.

Quantum error-correction failure distributions: Comparison of coherent and stochastic error models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes, Jeff P.; Trout, Colin J.; Lucarelli, Dennis; Clader, B. D.

2017-06-01

We compare failure distributions of quantum error correction circuits for stochastic errors and coherent errors. We utilize a fully coherent simulation of a fault-tolerant quantum error correcting circuit for a d =3 Steane and surface code. We find that the output distributions are markedly different for the two error models, showing that no simple mapping between the two error models exists. Coherent errors create very broad and heavy-tailed failure distributions. This suggests that they are susceptible to outlier events and that mean statistics, such as pseudothreshold estimates, may not provide the key figure of merit. This provides further statistical insight into why coherent errors can be so harmful for quantum error correction. These output probability distributions may also provide a useful metric that can be utilized when optimizing quantum error correcting codes and decoding procedures for purely coherent errors.

Maximal privacy without coherence.

PubMed

Leung, Debbie; Li, Ke; Smith, Graeme; Smolin, John A

2014-07-18

Privacy is a fundamental feature of quantum mechanics. A coherently transmitted quantum state is inherently private. Remarkably, coherent quantum communication is not a prerequisite for privacy: there are quantum channels that are too noisy to transmit any quantum information reliably that can nevertheless send private classical information. Here, we ask how much private classical information a channel can transmit if it has little quantum capacity. We present a class of channels N(d) with input dimension d(2), quantum capacity Q(N(d)) ≤ 1, and private capacity P(N(d)) = log d. These channels asymptotically saturate an interesting inequality P(N) ≤ (1/2)[log d(A) + Q(N)] for any channel N with input dimension d(A) and capture the essence of privacy stripped of the confounding influence of coherence.

Qubit lattice coherence induced by electromagnetic pulses in superconducting metamaterials.

PubMed

Ivić, Z; Lazarides, N; Tsironis, G P

2016-07-12

Quantum bits (qubits) are at the heart of quantum information processing schemes. Currently, solid-state qubits, and in particular the superconducting ones, seem to satisfy the requirements for being the building blocks of viable quantum computers, since they exhibit relatively long coherence times, extremely low dissipation, and scalability. The possibility of achieving quantum coherence in macroscopic circuits comprising Josephson junctions, envisioned by Legett in the 1980's, was demonstrated for the first time in a charge qubit; since then, the exploitation of macroscopic quantum effects in low-capacitance Josephson junction circuits allowed for the realization of several kinds of superconducting qubits. Furthermore, coupling between qubits has been successfully achieved that was followed by the construction of multiple-qubit logic gates and the implementation of several algorithms. Here it is demonstrated that induced qubit lattice coherence as well as two remarkable quantum coherent optical phenomena, i.e., self-induced transparency and Dicke-type superradiance, may occur during light-pulse propagation in quantum metamaterials comprising superconducting charge qubits. The generated qubit lattice pulse forms a compound "quantum breather" that propagates in synchrony with the electromagnetic pulse. The experimental confirmation of such effects in superconducting quantum metamaterials may open a new pathway to potentially powerful quantum computing.

Second-scale nuclear spin coherence time of ultracold 23Na40K molecules.

PubMed

Park, Jee Woo; Yan, Zoe Z; Loh, Huanqian; Will, Sebastian A; Zwierlein, Martin W

2017-07-28

Coherence, the stability of the relative phase between quantum states, is central to quantum mechanics and its applications. For ultracold dipolar molecules at sub-microkelvin temperatures, internal states with robust coherence are predicted to offer rich prospects for quantum many-body physics and quantum information processing. We report the observation of stable coherence between nuclear spin states of ultracold fermionic sodium-potassium (NaK) molecules in the singlet rovibrational ground state. Ramsey spectroscopy reveals coherence times on the scale of 1 second; this enables high-resolution spectroscopy of the molecular gas. Collisional shifts are shown to be absent down to the 100-millihertz level. This work opens the door to the use of molecules as a versatile quantum memory and for precision measurements on dipolar quantum matter. Copyright © 2017 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

Assisted Distillation of Quantum Coherence.

PubMed

Chitambar, E; Streltsov, A; Rana, S; Bera, M N; Adesso, G; Lewenstein, M

2016-02-19

We introduce and study the task of assisted coherence distillation. This task arises naturally in bipartite systems where both parties work together to generate the maximal possible coherence on one of the subsystems. Only incoherent operations are allowed on the target system, while general local quantum operations are permitted on the other; this is an operational paradigm that we call local quantum-incoherent operations and classical communication. We show that the asymptotic rate of assisted coherence distillation for pure states is equal to the coherence of assistance, an analog of the entanglement of assistance, whose properties we characterize. Our findings imply a novel interpretation of the von Neumann entropy: it quantifies the maximum amount of extra quantum coherence a system can gain when receiving assistance from a collaborative party. Our results are generalized to coherence localization in a multipartite setting and possible applications are discussed.

Quantum Discord in Photon-Added Glauber Coherent States of GHZ-Type

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daoud, M.; Kaydi, W.; El Hadfi, H.

2015-11-01

We investigate the influence of photon excitations on quantum correlations in tripartite Glauber coherent states of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger type (GHZ-type). The pairwise correlations are measured by means of the entropy-based quantum discord. We also analyze the monogamy property of quantum discord in this class of tripartite states in terms of the strength of Glauber coherent states and the photon excitation order.

Symmetry breaking by quantum coherence in single electron attachment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishnakumar, E.; Prabhudesai, Vaibhav S.; Mason, Nigel J.

2018-02-01

Quantum coherence-induced effects in atomic and molecular systems are the basis of several proposals for laser-based control of chemical reactions. So far, these rely on coherent photon beams inducing coherent reaction pathways that may interfere with one another, to achieve the desired outcome. This concept has been successfully exploited for removing the inversion symmetry in the dissociation of homonuclear diatomic molecules, but it remains to be seen if such quantum coherent effects can also be generated by the interaction of incoherent electrons with such molecules. Here we show that resonant electron attachment to H2 and the subsequent dissociation into H (n = 2) + H- is asymmetric about the inter-nuclear axis, whereas the asymmetry in D2 is far less pronounced. We explain this observation as due to attachment of a single electron resulting in a coherent superposition of two resonances of opposite parity. In addition to exemplifying a new quantum coherent process, our observation of coherent quantum dynamics involves the active participation of all three electrons and two nuclei, which could provide new tools for studying electron correlations as a means to control chemical processes, and demonstrates the role of coherent effects in electron-induced chemistry.

Dynamics of quantum correlation and coherence for two atoms coupled with a bath of fluctuating massless scalar field

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

Huang, Zhiming, E-mail: 465609785@qq.com; Situ, Haozhen, E-mail: situhaozhen@gmail.com

In this article, the dynamics of quantum correlation and coherence for two atoms interacting with a bath of fluctuating massless scalar field in the Minkowski vacuum is investigated. We firstly derive the master equation that describes the system evolution with initial Bell-diagonal state. Then we discuss the system evolution for three cases of different initial states: non-zero correlation separable state, maximally entangled state and zero correlation state. For non-zero correlation initial separable state, quantum correlation and coherence can be protected from vacuum fluctuations during long time evolution when the separation between the two atoms is relatively small. For maximally entangledmore » initial state, quantum correlation and coherence overall decrease with evolution time. However, for the zero correlation initial state, quantum correlation and coherence are firstly generated and then drop with evolution time; when separation is sufficiently small, they can survive from vacuum fluctuations. For three cases, quantum correlation and coherence first undergo decline and then fluctuate to relatively stable values with the increasing distance between the two atoms. Specially, for the case of zero correlation initial state, quantum correlation and coherence occur periodically revival at fixed zero points and revival amplitude declines gradually with increasing separation of two atoms.« less

Non-classical Correlations and Quantum Coherence in Mixed Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Zheng-Da; Wei, Mei-Song; Wang, Jicheng; Zhang, Yixin; He, Qi-Liang

2018-05-01

We investigate non-classical correlations (entanglement and quantum discord) and quantum coherence for an open two-qubit system each independently coupled to a bosonic environment and a spin environment, respectively. The modulating effects of spin environment and bosonic environment are respectively explored. A relation among the quantum coherence, quantum discord and classical correlation is found during the sudden transition phenomenon. We also compare the case of mixed environments with that of the same environments, showing that the dynamics is dramatically changed.

Non-Markovian full counting statistics in quantum dot molecules

PubMed Central

Xue, Hai-Bin; Jiao, Hu-Jun; Liang, Jiu-Qing; Liu, Wu-Ming

2015-01-01

Full counting statistics of electron transport is a powerful diagnostic tool for probing the nature of quantum transport beyond what is obtainable from the average current or conductance measurement alone. In particular, the non-Markovian dynamics of quantum dot molecule plays an important role in the nonequilibrium electron tunneling processes. It is thus necessary to understand the non-Markovian full counting statistics in a quantum dot molecule. Here we study the non-Markovian full counting statistics in two typical quantum dot molecules, namely, serially coupled and side-coupled double quantum dots with high quantum coherence in a certain parameter regime. We demonstrate that the non-Markovian effect manifests itself through the quantum coherence of the quantum dot molecule system, and has a significant impact on the full counting statistics in the high quantum-coherent quantum dot molecule system, which depends on the coupling of the quantum dot molecule system with the source and drain electrodes. The results indicated that the influence of the non-Markovian effect on the full counting statistics of electron transport, which should be considered in a high quantum-coherent quantum dot molecule system, can provide a better understanding of electron transport through quantum dot molecules. PMID:25752245

Coupled Qubits for Next Generation Quantum Annealing: Improving Coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weber, Steven; Samach, Gabriel; Hover, David; Rosenberg, Danna; Yoder, Jonilyn; Kim, David K.; Kerman, Andrew; Oliver, William D.

Quantum annealing is an optimization technique which potentially leverages quantum tunneling to enhance computational performance. Existing quantum annealers use superconducting flux qubits with short coherence times, limited primarily by the use of large persistent currents. Here, we examine an alternative approach, using flux qubits with smaller persistent currents and longer coherence times. We demonstrate tunable coupling, a basic building-block for quantum annealing, between two such qubits. Furthermore, we characterize qubit coherence as a function of coupler setting and investigate the effect of flux noise in the coupler loop on qubit coherence. Our results provide insight into the available design space for next-generation quantum annealers with improved coherence. This research was funded by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) and by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering under Air Force Contract No. FA8721-05-C-0002. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of ODNI, IARPA, or the US Government.

Multi-bit dark state memory: Double quantum dot as an electronic quantum memory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aharon, Eran; Pozner, Roni; Lifshitz, Efrat; Peskin, Uri

2016-12-01

Quantum dot clusters enable the creation of dark states which preserve electrons or holes in a coherent superposition of dot states for a long time. Various quantum logic devices can be envisioned to arise from the possibility of storing such trapped particles for future release on demand. In this work, we consider a double quantum dot memory device, which enables the preservation of a coherent state to be released as multiple classical bits. Our unique device architecture uses an external gating for storing (writing) the coherent state and for retrieving (reading) the classical bits, in addition to exploiting an internal gating effect for the preservation of the coherent state.

Holographic storage of biphoton entanglement.

PubMed

Dai, Han-Ning; Zhang, Han; Yang, Sheng-Jun; Zhao, Tian-Ming; Rui, Jun; Deng, You-Jin; Li, Li; Liu, Nai-Le; Chen, Shuai; Bao, Xiao-Hui; Jin, Xian-Min; Zhao, Bo; Pan, Jian-Wei

2012-05-25

Coherent and reversible storage of multiphoton entanglement with a multimode quantum memory is essential for scalable all-optical quantum information processing. Although a single photon has been successfully stored in different quantum systems, storage of multiphoton entanglement remains challenging because of the critical requirement for coherent control of the photonic entanglement source, multimode quantum memory, and quantum interface between them. Here we demonstrate a coherent and reversible storage of biphoton Bell-type entanglement with a holographic multimode atomic-ensemble-based quantum memory. The retrieved biphoton entanglement violates the Bell inequality for 1 μs storage time and a memory-process fidelity of 98% is demonstrated by quantum state tomography.

Direct Observation of Quantum Coherence in Single-Molecule Magnets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlegel, C.; van Slageren, J.; Manoli, M.; Brechin, E. K.; Dressel, M.

2008-10-01

Direct evidence of quantum coherence in a single-molecule magnet in a frozen solution is reported with coherence times as long as T2=630±30ns. We can strongly increase the coherence time by modifying the matrix in which the single-molecule magnets are embedded. The electron spins are coupled to the proton nuclear spins of both the molecule itself and, interestingly, also to those of the solvent. The clear observation of Rabi oscillations indicates that we can manipulate the spin coherently, an essential prerequisite for performing quantum computations.

Quantum coherent optical phase modulation in an ultrafast transmission electron microscope.

PubMed

Feist, Armin; Echternkamp, Katharina E; Schauss, Jakob; Yalunin, Sergey V; Schäfer, Sascha; Ropers, Claus

2015-05-14

Coherent manipulation of quantum systems with light is expected to be a cornerstone of future information and communication technology, including quantum computation and cryptography. The transfer of an optical phase onto a quantum wavefunction is a defining aspect of coherent interactions and forms the basis of quantum state preparation, synchronization and metrology. Light-phase-modulated electron states near atoms and molecules are essential for the techniques of attosecond science, including the generation of extreme-ultraviolet pulses and orbital tomography. In contrast, the quantum-coherent phase-modulation of energetic free-electron beams has not been demonstrated, although it promises direct access to ultrafast imaging and spectroscopy with tailored electron pulses on the attosecond scale. Here we demonstrate the coherent quantum state manipulation of free-electron populations in an electron microscope beam. We employ the interaction of ultrashort electron pulses with optical near-fields to induce Rabi oscillations in the populations of electron momentum states, observed as a function of the optical driving field. Excellent agreement with the scaling of an equal-Rabi multilevel quantum ladder is obtained, representing the observation of a light-driven 'quantum walk' coherently reshaping electron density in momentum space. We note that, after the interaction, the optically generated superposition of momentum states evolves into a train of attosecond electron pulses. Our results reveal the potential of quantum control for the precision structuring of electron densities, with possible applications ranging from ultrafast electron spectroscopy and microscopy to accelerator science and free-electron lasers.

Quantum coherent optical phase modulation in an ultrafast transmission electron microscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feist, Armin; Echternkamp, Katharina E.; Schauss, Jakob; Yalunin, Sergey V.; Schäfer, Sascha; Ropers, Claus

2015-05-01

Coherent manipulation of quantum systems with light is expected to be a cornerstone of future information and communication technology, including quantum computation and cryptography. The transfer of an optical phase onto a quantum wavefunction is a defining aspect of coherent interactions and forms the basis of quantum state preparation, synchronization and metrology. Light-phase-modulated electron states near atoms and molecules are essential for the techniques of attosecond science, including the generation of extreme-ultraviolet pulses and orbital tomography. In contrast, the quantum-coherent phase-modulation of energetic free-electron beams has not been demonstrated, although it promises direct access to ultrafast imaging and spectroscopy with tailored electron pulses on the attosecond scale. Here we demonstrate the coherent quantum state manipulation of free-electron populations in an electron microscope beam. We employ the interaction of ultrashort electron pulses with optical near-fields to induce Rabi oscillations in the populations of electron momentum states, observed as a function of the optical driving field. Excellent agreement with the scaling of an equal-Rabi multilevel quantum ladder is obtained, representing the observation of a light-driven `quantum walk' coherently reshaping electron density in momentum space. We note that, after the interaction, the optically generated superposition of momentum states evolves into a train of attosecond electron pulses. Our results reveal the potential of quantum control for the precision structuring of electron densities, with possible applications ranging from ultrafast electron spectroscopy and microscopy to accelerator science and free-electron lasers.

Qubit lattice coherence induced by electromagnetic pulses in superconducting metamaterials

PubMed Central

Ivić, Z.; Lazarides, N.; Tsironis, G. P.

2016-01-01

Quantum bits (qubits) are at the heart of quantum information processing schemes. Currently, solid-state qubits, and in particular the superconducting ones, seem to satisfy the requirements for being the building blocks of viable quantum computers, since they exhibit relatively long coherence times, extremely low dissipation, and scalability. The possibility of achieving quantum coherence in macroscopic circuits comprising Josephson junctions, envisioned by Legett in the 1980’s, was demonstrated for the first time in a charge qubit; since then, the exploitation of macroscopic quantum effects in low-capacitance Josephson junction circuits allowed for the realization of several kinds of superconducting qubits. Furthermore, coupling between qubits has been successfully achieved that was followed by the construction of multiple-qubit logic gates and the implementation of several algorithms. Here it is demonstrated that induced qubit lattice coherence as well as two remarkable quantum coherent optical phenomena, i.e., self-induced transparency and Dicke-type superradiance, may occur during light-pulse propagation in quantum metamaterials comprising superconducting charge qubits. The generated qubit lattice pulse forms a compound ”quantum breather” that propagates in synchrony with the electromagnetic pulse. The experimental confirmation of such effects in superconducting quantum metamaterials may open a new pathway to potentially powerful quantum computing. PMID:27403780

Qubit lattice coherence induced by electromagnetic pulses in superconducting metamaterials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivić, Z.; Lazarides, N.; Tsironis, G. P.

2016-07-01

Quantum bits (qubits) are at the heart of quantum information processing schemes. Currently, solid-state qubits, and in particular the superconducting ones, seem to satisfy the requirements for being the building blocks of viable quantum computers, since they exhibit relatively long coherence times, extremely low dissipation, and scalability. The possibility of achieving quantum coherence in macroscopic circuits comprising Josephson junctions, envisioned by Legett in the 1980’s, was demonstrated for the first time in a charge qubit; since then, the exploitation of macroscopic quantum effects in low-capacitance Josephson junction circuits allowed for the realization of several kinds of superconducting qubits. Furthermore, coupling between qubits has been successfully achieved that was followed by the construction of multiple-qubit logic gates and the implementation of several algorithms. Here it is demonstrated that induced qubit lattice coherence as well as two remarkable quantum coherent optical phenomena, i.e., self-induced transparency and Dicke-type superradiance, may occur during light-pulse propagation in quantum metamaterials comprising superconducting charge qubits. The generated qubit lattice pulse forms a compound ”quantum breather” that propagates in synchrony with the electromagnetic pulse. The experimental confirmation of such effects in superconducting quantum metamaterials may open a new pathway to potentially powerful quantum computing.

Experimental Demonstration of Observability and Operability of Robustness of Coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Wenqiang; Ma, Zhihao; Wang, Hengyan; Fei, Shao-Ming; Peng, Xinhua

2018-06-01

Quantum coherence is an invaluable physical resource for various quantum technologies. As a bona fide measure in quantifying coherence, the robustness of coherence (ROC) is not only mathematically rigorous, but also physically meaningful. We experimentally demonstrate the witness-observable and operational feature of the ROC in a multiqubit nuclear magnetic resonance system. We realize witness measurements by detecting the populations of quantum systems in one trial. The approach may also apply to physical systems compatible with ensemble or nondemolition measurements. Moreover, we experimentally show that the ROC quantifies the advantage enabled by a quantum state in a phase discrimination task.

Photon catalysis acting as noiseless linear amplification and its application in coherence enhancement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Shengli; Zhang, Xiangdong

2018-04-01

Photon catalysis is an intriguing quantum mechanical operation during which no photon is added to or subtracted from the relevant optical system. However, we prove that photon catalysis is in essence equivalent to the simpler but more efficient noiseless linear amplifier. This provides a simple and zero-energy-input method for enhancing quantum coherence. We show that the coherence enhancement holds both for a coherent state and a two-mode squeezed vacuum (TMSV) state. For the TMSV state, biside photon catalysis is shown to be equivalent to two times the single-side photon catalysis, and two times the photon catalysis does not provide a substantial enhancement of quantum coherence compared with single-side catalysis. We further extend our investigation to the performance of coherence enhancement with a more realistic photon catalysis scheme where a heralded approximated single-photon state and an on-off detector are exploited. Moreover, we investigate the influence of an imperfect photon detector and the result shows that the amplification effect of photon catalysis is insensitive to the detector inefficiency. Finally, we apply the coherence measure to quantum illumination and see the same trend of performance improvement as coherence enhancement is identified in practical quantum target detection.

Mild acetosolv process to fractionate bamboo for the biorefinery: structural and antioxidant properties of the dissolved lignin.

PubMed

Li, Ming-Fei; Sun, Shao-Ni; Xu, Feng; Sun, Run-Cang

2012-02-22

Fractionation of lignocellulosic material into its constitutive components is of vital importance for the production of biofuels as well as other value-added chemicals. The conventional acetosolv processes are mainly focused on the production of pulp from woody lignocelluloses. In this study, a mild acetosolv process was developed to fractionate bamboo under atmospheric pressure to obtain cellulosic pulp, water-soluble fraction, and acetic acid lignin. The structural features of the lignins obtained under various conditions were characterized with elemental analysis, sugar analysis, alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR), and heteronuclear single-quantum coherence (HSQC) spectroscopy. As compared to milled wood lignin (MWL) of bamboo, acetic acid lignins had low impurities (carbohydrates 2.48-4.56%) mainly due to the cleavage of linkages between lignin and carbohydrates. In addition, acetic acid lignins showed a low proportion of syringyl (S) units. Due to the cleavage of linkages between lignin units, acetic acid lignins had weight-average molecular weights ranging from 4870 to 5210 g/mol, less than half that of MWL (13000 g/mol). In addition, acetic acid lignins showed stronger antioxidant activity mainly due to the significant increase of free phenolic hydroxyls. The lignins obtained with such low impurities, high free phenolic hydroxyls, and medium molecular weights are promising feedstocks to replace petroleum chemicals.

Strong Quantum Coherence between Fermi Liquid Mahan Excitons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paul, J.; Stevens, C. E.; Liu, C.; Dey, P.; McIntyre, C.; Turkowski, V.; Reno, J. L.; Hilton, D. J.; Karaiskaj, D.

2016-04-01

In modulation doped quantum wells, the excitons are formed as a result of the interactions of the charged holes with the electrons at the Fermi edge in the conduction band, leading to the so-called "Mahan excitons." The binding energy of Mahan excitons is expected to be greatly reduced and any quantum coherence destroyed as a result of the screening and electron-electron interactions. Surprisingly, we observe strong quantum coherence between the heavy hole and light hole excitons. Such correlations are revealed by the dominating cross-diagonal peaks in both one-quantum and two-quantum two-dimensional Fourier transform spectra. Theoretical simulations based on the optical Bloch equations where many-body effects are included phenomenologically reproduce well the experimental spectra. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations provide insight into the underlying physics and attribute the observed strong quantum coherence to a significantly reduced screening length and collective excitations of the many-electron system.

Strong Quantum Coherence between Fermi Liquid Mahan Excitons.

PubMed

Paul, J; Stevens, C E; Liu, C; Dey, P; McIntyre, C; Turkowski, V; Reno, J L; Hilton, D J; Karaiskaj, D

2016-04-15

In modulation doped quantum wells, the excitons are formed as a result of the interactions of the charged holes with the electrons at the Fermi edge in the conduction band, leading to the so-called "Mahan excitons." The binding energy of Mahan excitons is expected to be greatly reduced and any quantum coherence destroyed as a result of the screening and electron-electron interactions. Surprisingly, we observe strong quantum coherence between the heavy hole and light hole excitons. Such correlations are revealed by the dominating cross-diagonal peaks in both one-quantum and two-quantum two-dimensional Fourier transform spectra. Theoretical simulations based on the optical Bloch equations where many-body effects are included phenomenologically reproduce well the experimental spectra. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations provide insight into the underlying physics and attribute the observed strong quantum coherence to a significantly reduced screening length and collective excitations of the many-electron system.

Quantum beats from the coherent interaction of hole states with surface state in near-surface quantum well

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

Khan, Salahuddin; Jayabalan, J., E-mail: jjaya@rrcat.gov.in; Chari, Rama

2014-08-18

We report tunneling assisted beating of carriers in a near-surface single GaAsP/AlGaAs quantum well using transient reflectivity measurement. The observed damped oscillating signal has a period of 120 ± 6 fs which corresponds to the energy difference between lh1 and hh2 hole states in the quantum well. Comparing the transient reflectivity signal at different photon energies and with a buried quantum well sample, we show that the beating is caused by the coherent coupling between surface state and the hole states (lh1 and hh2) in the near-surface quantum well. The dependence of decay of coherence of these tunneling carriers on the excitationmore » fluence is also reported. This observation on the coherent tunneling of carrier is important for future quantum device applications.« less

Quantum fuel with multilevel atomic coherence for ultrahigh specific work in a photonic Carnot engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Türkpençe, Deniz; Müstecaplıoǧlu, Özgür E.

2016-01-01

We investigate scaling of work and efficiency of a photonic Carnot engine with a number of quantum coherent resources. Specifically, we consider a generalization of the "phaseonium fuel" for the photonic Carnot engine, which was first introduced as a three-level atom with two lower states in a quantum coherent superposition by M. O. Scully, M. Suhail Zubairy, G. S. Agarwal, and H. Walther [Science 299, 862 (2003), 10.1126/science.1078955], to the case of N +1 level atoms with N coherent lower levels. We take into account atomic relaxation and dephasing as well as the cavity loss and derive a coarse-grained master equation to evaluate the work and efficiency analytically. Analytical results are verified by microscopic numerical examination of the thermalization dynamics. We find that efficiency and work scale quadratically with the number of quantum coherent levels. Quantum coherence boost to the specific energy (work output per unit mass of the resource) is a profound fundamental difference of quantum fuel from classical resources. We consider typical modern resonator set ups and conclude that multilevel phaseonium fuel can be utilized to overcome the decoherence in available systems. Preparation of the atomic coherences and the associated cost of coherence are analyzed and the engine operation within the bounds of the second law is verified. Our results bring the photonic Carnot engines much closer to the capabilities of current resonator technologies.

Description of quantum coherence in thermodynamic processes requires constraints beyond free energy.

PubMed

Lostaglio, Matteo; Jennings, David; Rudolph, Terry

2015-03-10

Recent studies have developed fundamental limitations on nanoscale thermodynamics, in terms of a set of independent free energy relations. Here we show that free energy relations cannot properly describe quantum coherence in thermodynamic processes. By casting time-asymmetry as a quantifiable, fundamental resource of a quantum state, we arrive at an additional, independent set of thermodynamic constraints that naturally extend the existing ones. These asymmetry relations reveal that the traditional Szilárd engine argument does not extend automatically to quantum coherences, but instead only relational coherences in a multipartite scenario can contribute to thermodynamic work. We find that coherence transformations are always irreversible. Our results also reveal additional structural parallels between thermodynamics and the theory of entanglement.

Description of quantum coherence in thermodynamic processes requires constraints beyond free energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lostaglio, Matteo; Jennings, David; Rudolph, Terry

2015-03-01

Recent studies have developed fundamental limitations on nanoscale thermodynamics, in terms of a set of independent free energy relations. Here we show that free energy relations cannot properly describe quantum coherence in thermodynamic processes. By casting time-asymmetry as a quantifiable, fundamental resource of a quantum state, we arrive at an additional, independent set of thermodynamic constraints that naturally extend the existing ones. These asymmetry relations reveal that the traditional Szilárd engine argument does not extend automatically to quantum coherences, but instead only relational coherences in a multipartite scenario can contribute to thermodynamic work. We find that coherence transformations are always irreversible. Our results also reveal additional structural parallels between thermodynamics and the theory of entanglement.

Description of quantum coherence in thermodynamic processes requires constraints beyond free energy

PubMed Central

Lostaglio, Matteo; Jennings, David; Rudolph, Terry

2015-01-01

Recent studies have developed fundamental limitations on nanoscale thermodynamics, in terms of a set of independent free energy relations. Here we show that free energy relations cannot properly describe quantum coherence in thermodynamic processes. By casting time-asymmetry as a quantifiable, fundamental resource of a quantum state, we arrive at an additional, independent set of thermodynamic constraints that naturally extend the existing ones. These asymmetry relations reveal that the traditional Szilárd engine argument does not extend automatically to quantum coherences, but instead only relational coherences in a multipartite scenario can contribute to thermodynamic work. We find that coherence transformations are always irreversible. Our results also reveal additional structural parallels between thermodynamics and the theory of entanglement. PMID:25754774

Probing the strongly driven spin-boson model in a superconducting quantum circuit.

PubMed

Magazzù, L; Forn-Díaz, P; Belyansky, R; Orgiazzi, J-L; Yurtalan, M A; Otto, M R; Lupascu, A; Wilson, C M; Grifoni, M

2018-04-11

Quantum two-level systems interacting with the surroundings are ubiquitous in nature. The interaction suppresses quantum coherence and forces the system towards a steady state. Such dissipative processes are captured by the paradigmatic spin-boson model, describing a two-state particle, the "spin", interacting with an environment formed by harmonic oscillators. A fundamental question to date is to what extent intense coherent driving impacts a strongly dissipative system. Here we investigate experimentally and theoretically a superconducting qubit strongly coupled to an electromagnetic environment and subjected to a coherent drive. This setup realizes the driven Ohmic spin-boson model. We show that the drive reinforces environmental suppression of quantum coherence, and that a coherent-to-incoherent transition can be achieved by tuning the drive amplitude. An out-of-equilibrium detailed balance relation is demonstrated. These results advance fundamental understanding of open quantum systems and bear potential for the design of entangled light-matter states.

Dynamics of plasmonic field polarization induced by quantum coherence in quantum dot-metallic nanoshell structures.

PubMed

Sadeghi, S M

2014-09-01

When a hybrid system consisting of a semiconductor quantum dot and a metallic nanoparticle interacts with a laser field, the plasmonic field of the metallic nanoparticle can be normalized by the quantum coherence generated in the quantum dot. In this Letter, we study the states of polarization of such a coherent-plasmonic field and demonstrate how these states can reveal unique aspects of the collective molecular properties of the hybrid system formed via coherent exciton-plasmon coupling. We show that transition between the molecular states of this system can lead to ultrafast polarization dynamics, including sudden reversal of the sense of variations of the plasmonic field and formation of circular and elliptical polarization.

Measurement of Absolute Concentrations of Individual Compounds in Metabolite Mixtures by Gradient-Selective Time-Zero 1H-13C HSQC (gsHSQC0) with Two Concentration References and Fast Maximum Likelihood Reconstruction Analysis

PubMed Central

Hu, Kaifeng; Ellinger, James J.; Chylla, Roger A.; Markley, John L.

2011-01-01

Time-zero 2D 13C HSQC (HSQC0) spectroscopy offers advantages over traditional 2D NMR for quantitative analysis of solutions containing a mixture of compounds because the signal intensities are directly proportional to the concentrations of the constituents. The HSQC0 spectrum is derived from a series of spectra collected with increasing repetition times within the basic HSQC block by extrapolating the repetition time to zero. Here we present an alternative approach to data collection, gradient-selective time-zero 1H-13C HSQC0 in combination with fast maximum likelihood reconstruction (FMLR) data analysis and the use of two concentration references for absolute concentration determination. Gradient-selective data acquisition results in cleaner spectra, and NMR data can be acquired in both constant-time and non-constant time mode. Semi-automatic data analysis is supported by the FMLR approach, which is used to deconvolute the spectra and extract peak volumes. The peak volumes obtained from this analysis are converted to absolute concentrations by reference to the peak volumes of two internal reference compounds of known concentration: DSS (4,4-dimethyl-4-silapentane-1-sulfonic acid) at the low concentration limit (which also serves as chemical shift reference) and MES (2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid) at the high concentration limit. The linear relationship between peak volumes and concentration is better defined with two references than with one, and the measured absolute concentrations of individual compounds in the mixture are more accurate. We compare results from semi-automated gsHSQC0 with those obtained by the original manual phase-cycled HSQC0 approach. The new approach is suitable for automatic metabolite profiling by simultaneous quantification of multiple metabolites in a complex mixture. PMID:22029275

Noise induced quantum effects in photosynthetic complexes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorfman, Konstantin; Voronine, Dmitri; Mukamel, Shaul; Scully, Marlan

2012-02-01

Recent progress in coherent multidimensional optical spectroscopy revealed effects of quantum coherence coupled to population leading to population oscillations as evidence of quantum transport. Their description requires reevaluation of the currently used methods and approximations. We identify couplings between coherences and populations as the noise-induced cross-terms in the master equation generated via Agarwal-Fano interference that have been shown earlier to enhance the quantum yield in a photocell. We investigated a broad range of typical parameter regimes, which may be applied to a variety of photosynthetic complexes. We demonstrate that quantum coherence may be induced in photosynthetic complexes under natural conditions of incoherent light from the sun. This demonstrates that a photosynthetic reaction center may be viewed as a biological quantum heat engine that transforms high-energy thermal photon radiation into low entropy electron flux.

Security improvement by using a modified coherent state for quantum cryptography

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

Lu, Y.J.; Zhu, Luobei; Ou, Z.Y.

2005-03-01

Weak coherent states as a photon source for quantum cryptography have a limit in secure data rate and transmission distance because of the presence of multiphoton events and loss in transmission line. Two-photon events in a coherent state can be taken out by a two-photon interference scheme. We investigate the security issue of utilizing this modified coherent state in quantum cryptography. A 4-dB improvement in the secure data rate or a nearly twofold increase in transmission distance over the coherent state are found. With a recently proposed and improved encoding strategy, further improvement is possible.

Nonexponential Decoherence and Subdiffusion in Atom-Optics Kicked Rotor.

PubMed

Sarkar, Sumit; Paul, Sanku; Vishwakarma, Chetan; Kumar, Sunil; Verma, Gunjan; Sainath, M; Rapol, Umakant D; Santhanam, M S

2017-04-28

Quantum systems lose coherence upon interaction with the environment and tend towards classical states. Quantum coherence is known to exponentially decay in time so that macroscopic quantum superpositions are generally unsustainable. In this work, slower than exponential decay of coherences is experimentally realized in an atom-optics kicked rotor system subjected to nonstationary Lévy noise in the applied kick sequence. The slower coherence decay manifests in the form of quantum subdiffusion that can be controlled through the Lévy exponent. The experimental results are in good agreement with the analytical estimates and numerical simulations for the mean energy growth and momentum profiles of an atom-optics kicked rotor.

High efficiency coherent optical memory with warm rubidium vapour

PubMed Central

Hosseini, M.; Sparkes, B.M.; Campbell, G.; Lam, P.K.; Buchler, B.C.

2011-01-01

By harnessing aspects of quantum mechanics, communication and information processing could be radically transformed. Promising forms of quantum information technology include optical quantum cryptographic systems and computing using photons for quantum logic operations. As with current information processing systems, some form of memory will be required. Quantum repeaters, which are required for long distance quantum key distribution, require quantum optical memory as do deterministic logic gates for optical quantum computing. Here, we present results from a coherent optical memory based on warm rubidium vapour and show 87% efficient recall of light pulses, the highest efficiency measured to date for any coherent optical memory suitable for quantum information applications. We also show storage and recall of up to 20 pulses from our system. These results show that simple warm atomic vapour systems have clear potential as a platform for quantum memory. PMID:21285952

High efficiency coherent optical memory with warm rubidium vapour.

PubMed

Hosseini, M; Sparkes, B M; Campbell, G; Lam, P K; Buchler, B C

2011-02-01

By harnessing aspects of quantum mechanics, communication and information processing could be radically transformed. Promising forms of quantum information technology include optical quantum cryptographic systems and computing using photons for quantum logic operations. As with current information processing systems, some form of memory will be required. Quantum repeaters, which are required for long distance quantum key distribution, require quantum optical memory as do deterministic logic gates for optical quantum computing. Here, we present results from a coherent optical memory based on warm rubidium vapour and show 87% efficient recall of light pulses, the highest efficiency measured to date for any coherent optical memory suitable for quantum information applications. We also show storage and recall of up to 20 pulses from our system. These results show that simple warm atomic vapour systems have clear potential as a platform for quantum memory.

About the Nature of a Coherence of Light Waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demyaneko, P. O.; Zinkovskiy, Y. F.; Savenko, Y. V.

The confrontation of corpuscular and wave hypotheses was not partly stacked in frameworks of the uniform theory. Fundamental works of Fresnel and Fraunhofer on a diffraction of light have erected a wave theory in a rank of dominant true. The wave theory did not so effectively explain developments of corpuscular properties of a light. Its feeble place was also necessity for concept "coherence", introduced for explanation of a light interference. The wave coherence is properly understood as waves ability to interfere. The problem of a light coherence continues to be interesting for investigators [L], but clear understanding of its nature is not yet appeared. Because, it is unconvincing to consider an attribution to the act of separate atom radiation of electromagnetic waves "zug" of a few meters length as explanation of the coherence nature, when it has become possible to generate light pulses by duration ˜ 10 -15 s. Let's note there is the spatial separation of a primary luminous flux on two secondary ones in a basis of all ways of deriving of coherent luminous fluxes. And these fluxes are able to interfere when are brought together. Their coherence was explained that at partitioning each "zug" was bisected, and at joining again met mutual coherent "its halves". There was not disputed the question, how happens " separation of each waves "zug" in halves". M. Plank postulated (1900) heated bodies radiate electromagnetic waves not continuously, but by separate portions he called "quantums" of energy. Its have a quantity is proportional to frequency of electromagnetic waves. A. Einstein has entered (1905) a hypothesis of light quantums -- light is indeed generated as quantums, and in further it exists as a flux of quantums and interacts with matter also, as a flux of separate quantums. The term "photon" was entered by G.N. Lewis (1929) properly for emphasising of light quantums and that one underlined corpuscularity of a light. At investigation of an atom structure there was set (E. Rutherford, N. Bohr, 1911) quantums are generated in atoms at transitions of excited electrons from higher energy levels onto lowest levels. At that, there are radiated quantums-waves of electromagnetic energy into environmental space. In different light sources "working body" has the "own" structure of energy levels defining spectral characteristics of these sources. So, the development of representations about the nature of a light returns to a corpuscular hypothesis. It has become clear, that the light organically combines in itself both property of waves and the properties of particles. It depends on requirements of experiment which one from developments will be prevalent. Inseparable unity of corpuscular and wave properties is proper for all microparticles (a hypothesis De Brogle, 1924) and has received a title of "wave-corpuscle dualism". Let's make a common view about "sizes" of a photon. As was mentioned, the light pulses can have duration ˜ 10 -15 s. Spatial length of such pulses in direction of motion ˜ 10 -6 m, that comparable with a light wavelength λ . It is possible to suspect that it will be a size of a photon in direction of its propagation. An estimate of "cross" of the sizes of a photon we shall obtain by analyzing of light diffraction on a narrow slot. The angular size of central diffraction peak at decreasing of width of a slot b is increased, and it reaches 180 at b = λ . Then the light intensity promptly impinges behind it. From this it is possible to assume, that the cross sectional dimensions of photon also is comparable with λ . It is necessary to clear understand, that photon, as the wave formation, does not have sharp borders. It is possible to speak only about the sizes of area containing a dominant share of photon energy. So, photon is a spatial localized electromagnetic perturbation, that allows to allot it with properties of a particle. Essential properties of a photon are indivisibility and existence only in a motion. So, the light is a photons flux: both light wave and light electromagnetic field consist of final number of photons. At that, it is important to remember that in any light source along with spontaneous mechanism it also operates a mechanism of induced radiation, generating identical (coherent) quantums. Due to it, there is radiated a partially coherent flux, consisting of large or small groups of quantums ("quantum packets"), from any light source. In limits of a separate packet its component quantums are coherent, because all of them are originated by one quantum which has appeared spontaneously, which induced occurrence of other quantums of this packet, passing by other excited atoms. The representation about quantum packets gives clear physical explanation to concept of "light waves zugs". Quantum packet is that "zug of waves". "Quality" of a light source (in sense of its coherence) is determined by sizes of quantum packets -- the larger they the more qualitative source, radiating them. There are understandable a better coherence of a gas light sources: the atoms in gas are arranged on large distances and do not hinder for spontaneously generated light quantum to overcome without absorption or dispersion that large distance, challenging on it an induced radiation of other excited atoms. The low coherence of glow-discharge tubes is stipulated by that the radiation in them goes only from surface layer of atoms and the requirements for development of the mechanism of induced radiation are unfavorable. It is also obvious the high coherence of a laser radiation due to a positive optical back coupling. The coherent quantums of one quantum packet exist a long time inside the resonator; they are reproducing there during all this time. Due to this the lasers are capable to generate multi-km quantum packets ("zugs"). By the way, it could not to explain "by emissive opportunities" of one atom. It is understandable a division of quantum packets on semi transparent mirrors: the part of quantums of each packet simply transits through a semi transparent mirrors, and remaining ones are simply reflected from it. The model of quantum packets gives clear explanation of coherence parameters of light flux. A length of coherence is a spatial extent of a quantum packet in direction of its propagation. A coherence time is a time of flight of quantum packet by a fixed spectator. A coherence radius (size) is a spatial extent of a quantum packet in direction, perpendicular to direction of its propagation. A volume of coherence is simply a volume of quantum packet. Separately it is necessary to tell about the fact of increasing of coherence radius of a light flux, propagating in space. Iterated, including by us, assertion: "at induced transitions there are generated the same quantums as ones induced them". It is not necessary to understand it too literally. What perfect was a light source, the spectral line of its radiation always has final width. That means, there is a certain frequency dispersion of quantums, generated by source, or modules of their wave vectors. Apparently, it is necessary to expect as well certain dispersion of particular straggling of wave vectors directions inside separate quantum packets. Beginning with experimentally obtained radius of sunlight coherence on surface of the Earth, it was determined a value of angular divergence of quantum packets. With the help of the obtained thus value, there were calculated values of coherence radiuses of light, coming on the Earth from more remote stars. Obtained calculated values are well compared with experimentally obtained values of light coherence radiuses for these stars. Starting from proposed concept of quantum packets, we have given explanation to such development of wave properties of the light as interference, in particular, its variety, when superimposed coherent fluxes interfere. It is not less important from a point of view of the coordination of their explanations with our representations about luminous flux structure, there is an analysis also such developments of wave properties of light, as its interference on thin films, "Newton's ringes", etc. For explanation of this variety of interference there is no need for concept coherence, as in such interference is watched always and for a light from any sources. There is a special interest to phenomenas bound with diffraction of light, from a point of view of quantum packets model. The prime task here is to give a corresponding explanation to the content both senses of Huygens' and Huygens-Fresnel principles. These problems will be considered in following our works. [L] Mandel L., Wolf E. Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics / Cambrige, 1995

Measurement of absolute concentrations of individual compounds in metabolite mixtures by gradient-selective time-zero 1H-13C HSQC with two concentration references and fast maximum likelihood reconstruction analysis.

PubMed

Hu, Kaifeng; Ellinger, James J; Chylla, Roger A; Markley, John L

2011-12-15

Time-zero 2D (13)C HSQC (HSQC(0)) spectroscopy offers advantages over traditional 2D NMR for quantitative analysis of solutions containing a mixture of compounds because the signal intensities are directly proportional to the concentrations of the constituents. The HSQC(0) spectrum is derived from a series of spectra collected with increasing repetition times within the basic HSQC block by extrapolating the repetition time to zero. Here we present an alternative approach to data collection, gradient-selective time-zero (1)H-(13)C HSQC(0) in combination with fast maximum likelihood reconstruction (FMLR) data analysis and the use of two concentration references for absolute concentration determination. Gradient-selective data acquisition results in cleaner spectra, and NMR data can be acquired in both constant-time and non-constant-time mode. Semiautomatic data analysis is supported by the FMLR approach, which is used to deconvolute the spectra and extract peak volumes. The peak volumes obtained from this analysis are converted to absolute concentrations by reference to the peak volumes of two internal reference compounds of known concentration: DSS (4,4-dimethyl-4-silapentane-1-sulfonic acid) at the low concentration limit (which also serves as chemical shift reference) and MES (2-(N-morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid) at the high concentration limit. The linear relationship between peak volumes and concentration is better defined with two references than with one, and the measured absolute concentrations of individual compounds in the mixture are more accurate. We compare results from semiautomated gsHSQC(0) with those obtained by the original manual phase-cycled HSQC(0) approach. The new approach is suitable for automatic metabolite profiling by simultaneous quantification of multiple metabolites in a complex mixture.

Quantitative, equal carbon response HSQC experiment, QEC-HSQC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mäkelä, Valtteri; Helminen, Jussi; Kilpeläinen, Ilkka; Heikkinen, Sami

2016-10-01

Quantitative NMR has become increasingly useful and popular in recent years, with many new and emerging applications in metabolomics, quality control, reaction monitoring and other types of mixture analysis. While sensitive and simple to acquire, the low resolving power of 1D 1H NMR spectra can be a limiting factor when analyzing complex mixtures. This drawback can be solved by observing a different type of nuclei offering improved resolution or with multidimensional experiments, such as HSQC. In this paper, we present a novel Quantitative, Equal Carbon HSQC (QEC-HSQC) experiment providing an equal response across different type of carbons regardless of the number of attached protons, in addition to an uniform response over a wide range of 1JCH couplings. This enables rapid quantification and integration over multiple signals without the need for complete resonance assignments and simplifies the integration of overlapping signals.

A universal quantum information processor for scalable quantum communication and networks

PubMed Central

Yang, Xihua; Xue, Bolin; Zhang, Junxiang; Zhu, Shiyao

2014-01-01

Entanglement provides an essential resource for quantum computation, quantum communication, and quantum networks. How to conveniently and efficiently realize the generation, distribution, storage, retrieval, and control of multipartite entanglement is the basic requirement for realistic quantum information processing. Here, we present a theoretical proposal to efficiently and conveniently achieve a universal quantum information processor (QIP) via atomic coherence in an atomic ensemble. The atomic coherence, produced through electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in the Λ-type configuration, acts as the QIP and has full functions of quantum beam splitter, quantum frequency converter, quantum entangler, and quantum repeater. By employing EIT-based nondegenerate four-wave mixing processes, the generation, exchange, distribution, and manipulation of light-light, atom-light, and atom-atom multipartite entanglement can be efficiently and flexibly achieved in a deterministic way with only coherent light fields. This method greatly facilitates the operations in quantum information processing, and holds promising applications in realistic scalable quantum communication and quantum networks. PMID:25316514

Quantum fuel with multilevel atomic coherence for ultrahigh specific work in a photonic Carnot engine.

PubMed

Türkpençe, Deniz; Müstecaplıoğlu, Özgür E

2016-01-01

We investigate scaling of work and efficiency of a photonic Carnot engine with a number of quantum coherent resources. Specifically, we consider a generalization of the "phaseonium fuel" for the photonic Carnot engine, which was first introduced as a three-level atom with two lower states in a quantum coherent superposition by M. O. Scully, M. Suhail Zubairy, G. S. Agarwal, and H. Walther [Science 299, 862 (2003)SCIEAS0036-807510.1126/science.1078955], to the case of N+1 level atoms with N coherent lower levels. We take into account atomic relaxation and dephasing as well as the cavity loss and derive a coarse-grained master equation to evaluate the work and efficiency analytically. Analytical results are verified by microscopic numerical examination of the thermalization dynamics. We find that efficiency and work scale quadratically with the number of quantum coherent levels. Quantum coherence boost to the specific energy (work output per unit mass of the resource) is a profound fundamental difference of quantum fuel from classical resources. We consider typical modern resonator set ups and conclude that multilevel phaseonium fuel can be utilized to overcome the decoherence in available systems. Preparation of the atomic coherences and the associated cost of coherence are analyzed and the engine operation within the bounds of the second law is verified. Our results bring the photonic Carnot engines much closer to the capabilities of current resonator technologies.

Insufficiency of avoided crossings for witnessing large-scale quantum coherence in flux qubits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fröwis, Florian; Yadin, Benjamin; Gisin, Nicolas

2018-04-01

Do experiments based on superconducting loops segmented with Josephson junctions (e.g., flux qubits) show macroscopic quantum behavior in the sense of Schrödinger's cat example? Various arguments based on microscopic and phenomenological models were recently adduced in this debate. We approach this problem by adapting (to flux qubits) the framework of large-scale quantum coherence, which was already successfully applied to spin ensembles and photonic systems. We show that contemporary experiments might show quantum coherence more than 100 times larger than experiments in the classical regime. However, we argue that the often-used demonstration of an avoided crossing in the energy spectrum is not sufficient to make a conclusion about the presence of large-scale quantum coherence. Alternative, rigorous witnesses are proposed.

Effects of Noise-Induced Coherence on the Performance of Quantum Absorption Refrigerators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holubec, Viktor; Novotný, Tomáš

2018-05-01

We study two models of quantum absorption refrigerators with the main focus on discerning the role of noise-induced coherence on their thermodynamic performance. Analogously to the previous studies on quantum heat engines, we find the increase in the cooling power due to the mechanism of noise-induced coherence. We formulate conditions imposed on the microscopic parameters of the models under which they can be equivalently described by classical stochastic processes and compare the performance of the two classes of fridges (effectively classical vs. truly quantum). We find that the enhanced performance is observed already for the effectively classical systems, with no significant qualitative change in the quantum cases, which suggests that the noise-induced-coherence-enhancement mechanism is caused by static interference phenomena.

Coherent spin control of a nanocavity-enhanced qubit in diamond

DOE PAGES

Li, Luozhou; Lu, Ming; Schroder, Tim; ...

2015-01-28

A central aim of quantum information processing is the efficient entanglement of multiple stationary quantum memories via photons. Among solid-state systems, the nitrogen-vacancy centre in diamond has emerged as an excellent optically addressable memory with second-scale electron spin coherence times. Recently, quantum entanglement and teleportation have been shown between two nitrogen-vacancy memories, but scaling to larger networks requires more efficient spin-photon interfaces such as optical resonators. Here we report such nitrogen-vacancy nanocavity systems in strong Purcell regime with optical quality factors approaching 10,000 and electron spin coherence times exceeding 200 µs using a silicon hard-mask fabrication process. This spin-photon interfacemore » is integrated with on-chip microwave striplines for coherent spin control, providing an efficient quantum memory for quantum networks.« less

Coherence evolution in two-qubit system going through amplitude damping channel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, MingJing; Ma, Teng; Ma, YuQuan

2018-02-01

In this paper, we analyze the evolution of quantum coherence in a two-qubit system going through the amplitude damping channel. After they have gone through this channel many times, we analyze the systems with respect to the coherence of their output states. When only one subsystem goes through the channel, frozen coherence occurs if and only if this subsystem is incoherent and an auxiliary condition is satisfied for the other subsystem. When two subsystems go through this quantum channel, quantum coherence can be frozen if and only if the two subsystems are both incoherent. We also investigate the evolution of coherence for maximally incoherent-coherent states and derive an equation for the output states after one or two subsystems have gone through the amplitude damping channel.

On-chip coherent conversion of photonic quantum entanglement between different degrees of freedom

PubMed Central

Feng, Lan-Tian; Zhang, Ming; Zhou, Zhi-Yuan; Li, Ming; Xiong, Xiao; Yu, Le; Shi, Bao-Sen; Guo, Guo-Ping; Dai, Dao-Xin; Ren, Xi-Feng; Guo, Guang-Can

2016-01-01

In the quantum world, a single particle can have various degrees of freedom to encode quantum information. Controlling multiple degrees of freedom simultaneously is necessary to describe a particle fully and, therefore, to use it more efficiently. Here we introduce the transverse waveguide-mode degree of freedom to quantum photonic integrated circuits, and demonstrate the coherent conversion of a photonic quantum state between path, polarization and transverse waveguide-mode degrees of freedom on a single chip. The preservation of quantum coherence in these conversion processes is proven by single-photon and two-photon quantum interference using a fibre beam splitter or on-chip beam splitters. These results provide us with the ability to control and convert multiple degrees of freedom of photons for quantum photonic integrated circuit-based quantum information process. PMID:27321821

On-chip coherent conversion of photonic quantum entanglement between different degrees of freedom.

PubMed

Feng, Lan-Tian; Zhang, Ming; Zhou, Zhi-Yuan; Li, Ming; Xiong, Xiao; Yu, Le; Shi, Bao-Sen; Guo, Guo-Ping; Dai, Dao-Xin; Ren, Xi-Feng; Guo, Guang-Can

2016-06-20

In the quantum world, a single particle can have various degrees of freedom to encode quantum information. Controlling multiple degrees of freedom simultaneously is necessary to describe a particle fully and, therefore, to use it more efficiently. Here we introduce the transverse waveguide-mode degree of freedom to quantum photonic integrated circuits, and demonstrate the coherent conversion of a photonic quantum state between path, polarization and transverse waveguide-mode degrees of freedom on a single chip. The preservation of quantum coherence in these conversion processes is proven by single-photon and two-photon quantum interference using a fibre beam splitter or on-chip beam splitters. These results provide us with the ability to control and convert multiple degrees of freedom of photons for quantum photonic integrated circuit-based quantum information process.

Coherent strong field interactions between a nanomagnet and a photonic cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soykal, Oney Orhunc

Strong coupling of light and matter is an essential element of cavity quantum electrodynamics (cavity-QED) and quantum optics, which may lead to novel mixed states of light and matter and to applications such as quantum computation. In the strong-coupling regime, where the coupling strength exceeds the dissipation, the light-matter interaction produces a characteristic vacuum Rabi splitting. Therefore, strong coupling can be utilized as an effective coherent interface between light and matter (in the form of electron charge, spin or superconducting Cooper pairs) to achieve components of quantum information technology including quantum memory, teleportation, and quantum repeaters. Semiconductor quantum dots, nuclear spins and paramagnetic spin systems are only some of the material systems under investigation for strong coupling in solid-state physics. Mixed states of light and matter coupled via electric dipole transitions often suffer from short coherence times (nanoseconds). Even though magnetic transitions appear to be intrinsically more quantum coherent than orbital transitions, their typical coupling strengths have been estimated to be much smaller. Hence, they have been neglected for the purposes of quantum information technology. However, we predict that strong coupling is feasible between photons and a ferromagnetic nanomagnet, due to exchange interactions that cause very large numbers of spins to coherently lock together with a significant increase in oscillator strength while still maintaining very long coherence times. In order to examine this new exciting possibility, the interaction of a ferromagnetic nanomagnet with a single photonic mode of a cavity is analyzed in a fully quantum-mechanical treatment. Exceptionally large quantum-coherent magnet-photon coupling with coupling terms in excess of several THz are predicted to be achievable in a spherical cavity of ˜ 1 mm radius with a nanomagnet of ˜ 100 nm radius and ferromagnet resonance frequency of ˜ 200 GHz. This should substantially exceed the coupling observed in solids between orbital transitions and light. Eigenstates of the nanomagnet-photon system correspond to entangled states of spin orientation and photon number over 105 values of each quantum number. Initial coherent state of definite spin and photon number evolve dynamically to produce large coherent oscillations in the microwave power with exceptionally long dephasing times of few seconds. In addition to dephasing, several decoherence mechanisms including elementary excitation of magnons and crystalline magnetic anisotropy are investigated and shown to not substantially affect coherence upto room temperature. For small nanomagnets the crystalline magnetic anisotropy of the magnet strongly localize the eigenstates in photon and spin number, quenching the potential for coherent states and for a sufficiently large nanomagnet the macrospin approximation breaks down and different domains of the nanomagnet may couple separately to the photonic mode. Thus the optimal nanomagnet size is predicted to be just below the threshold for failure of the macrospin approximation. Moreover, it is shown that initially unentangled coherent states of light (cavity field) and spin (nanomagnet spin orientation) can be phase-locked to evolve into a coherent entangled states of the system under the influence of strong coupling.

Gate fidelity and coherence of an electron spin in an Si/SiGe quantum dot with micromagnet

DOE PAGES

Kawakami, Erika; Jullien, Thibaut; Scarlino, Pasquale; ...

2016-10-03

The gate fidelity and the coherence time of a quantum bit (qubit) are important benchmarks for quantum computation. We construct a qubit using a single electron spin in an Si/SiGe quantum dot and control it electrically via an artificial spin-orbit field from a micromagnet. We measure an average single-qubit gate fidelity of ~99% using randomized benchmarking, which is consistent with dephasing from the slowly evolving nuclear spins in the substrate. The coherence time measured using dynamical decoupling extends up to ~400 μs for 128 decoupling pulses, with no sign of saturation. We find evidence that the coherence time is limitedmore » by noise in the 10-kHz to 1-MHz range, possibly because charge noise affects the spin via the micromagnet gradient. Furthermore, this work shows that an electron spin in an Si/SiGe quantum dot is a good candidate for quantum information processing as well as for a quantum memory, even without isotopic purification.« less

Strong quantum coherence between Fermi liquid Mahan excitons

DOE PAGES

Paul, J.; Stevens, C. E.; Liu, C.; ...

2016-04-14

In modulation doped quantum wells, the excitons are formed as a result of the interactions of the charged holes with the electrons at the Fermi edge in the conduction band, leading to the so-called “Mahan excitons.” The binding energy of Mahan excitons is expected to be greatly reduced and any quantum coherence destroyed as a result of the screening and electron-electron interactions. Surprisingly, we observe strong quantum coherence between the heavy hole and light hole excitons. Such correlations are revealed by the dominating cross-diagonal peaks in both one-quantum and two-quantum two-dimensional Fourier transform spectra. Theoretical simulations based on the opticalmore » Bloch equations where many-body effects are included phenomenologically reproduce well the experimental spectra. Furthermore, time-dependent density functional theory calculations provide insight into the underlying physics and attribute the observed strong quantum coherence to a significantly reduced screening length and collective excitations of the many-electron system.« less

Gate fidelity and coherence of an electron spin in an Si/SiGe quantum dot with micromagnet

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

Kawakami, Erika; Jullien, Thibaut; Scarlino, Pasquale

The gate fidelity and the coherence time of a quantum bit (qubit) are important benchmarks for quantum computation. We construct a qubit using a single electron spin in an Si/SiGe quantum dot and control it electrically via an artificial spin-orbit field from a micromagnet. We measure an average single-qubit gate fidelity of ~99% using randomized benchmarking, which is consistent with dephasing from the slowly evolving nuclear spins in the substrate. The coherence time measured using dynamical decoupling extends up to ~400 μs for 128 decoupling pulses, with no sign of saturation. We find evidence that the coherence time is limitedmore » by noise in the 10-kHz to 1-MHz range, possibly because charge noise affects the spin via the micromagnet gradient. Furthermore, this work shows that an electron spin in an Si/SiGe quantum dot is a good candidate for quantum information processing as well as for a quantum memory, even without isotopic purification.« less

Coherent communication with continuous quantum variables

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilde, Mark M.; Krovi, Hari; Brun, Todd A.

2007-06-01

The coherent bit (cobit) channel is a resource intermediate between classical and quantum communication. It produces coherent versions of teleportation and superdense coding. We extend the cobit channel to continuous variables by providing a definition of the coherent nat (conat) channel. We construct several coherent protocols that use both a position-quadrature and a momentum-quadrature conat channel with finite squeezing. Finally, we show that the quality of squeezing diminishes through successive compositions of coherent teleportation and superdense coding.

Environment spectrum and coherence behaviours in a rare-earth doped crystal for quantum memory.

PubMed

Gong, Bo; Tu, Tao; Zhou, Zhong-Quan; Zhu, Xing-Yu; Li, Chuan-Feng; Guo, Guang-Can

2017-12-21

We theoretically investigate the dynamics of environment and coherence behaviours of the central ion in a quantum memory based on a rare-earth doped crystal. The interactions between the central ion and the bath spins suppress the flip-flop rate of the neighbour bath spins and yield a specific environment spectral density S(ω). Under dynamical decoupling pulses, this spectrum provides a general scaling for the coherence envelope and coherence time, which significantly extend over a range on an hour-long time scale. The characterized environment spectrum with ultra-long coherence time can be used to implement various quantum communication and information processing protocols.

Quantum entropy and uncertainty for two-mode squeezed, coherent and intelligent spin states

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Aragone, C.; Mundarain, D.

1993-01-01

We compute the quantum entropy for monomode and two-mode systems set in squeezed states. Thereafter, the quantum entropy is also calculated for angular momentum algebra when the system is either in a coherent or in an intelligent spin state. These values are compared with the corresponding values of the respective uncertainties. In general, quantum entropies and uncertainties have the same minimum and maximum points. However, for coherent and intelligent spin states, it is found that some minima for the quantum entropy turn out to be uncertainty maxima. We feel that the quantum entropy we use provides the right answer, since it is given in an essentially unique way.

Coherent spin-exchange via a quantum mediator.

PubMed

Baart, Timothy Alexander; Fujita, Takafumi; Reichl, Christian; Wegscheider, Werner; Vandersypen, Lieven Mark Koenraad

2017-01-01

Coherent interactions at a distance provide a powerful tool for quantum simulation and computation. The most common approach to realize an effective long-distance coupling 'on-chip' is to use a quantum mediator, as has been demonstrated for superconducting qubits and trapped ions. For quantum dot arrays, which combine a high degree of tunability with extremely long coherence times, the experimental demonstration of the time evolution of coherent spin-spin coupling via an intermediary system remains an important outstanding goal. Here, we use a linear triple-quantum-dot array to demonstrate a coherent time evolution of two interacting distant spins via a quantum mediator. The two outer dots are occupied with a single electron spin each, and the spins experience a superexchange interaction through the empty middle dot, which acts as mediator. Using single-shot spin readout, we measure the coherent time evolution of the spin states on the outer dots and observe a characteristic dependence of the exchange frequency as a function of the detuning between the middle and outer dots. This approach may provide a new route for scaling up spin qubit circuits using quantum dots, and aid in the simulation of materials and molecules with non-nearest-neighbour couplings such as MnO (ref. 27), high-temperature superconductors and DNA. The same superexchange concept can also be applied in cold atom experiments.

Quantum coherence of planar spin models with Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radhakrishnan, Chandrashekar; Ermakov, Igor; Byrnes, Tim

2017-07-01

The quantum coherence of one-dimensional planar spin models with Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction is investigated. The anisotropic XY model, the isotropic XX model, and the transverse field model are studied in the large N limit using two qubit reduced density matrices and two point correlation functions. From our investigations we find that the coherence as measured using Jensen-Shannon divergence can be used to detect quantum phase transitions and quantum critical points. The derivative of coherence shows nonanalytic behavior at critical points, leading to the conclusion that these transitions are of second order. Further, we show that the presence of Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya coupling suppresses the phase transition due to residual ferromagnetism, which is caused by spin canting.

Entanglement and Coherence in Quantum State Merging.

PubMed

Streltsov, A; Chitambar, E; Rana, S; Bera, M N; Winter, A; Lewenstein, M

2016-06-17

Understanding the resource consumption in distributed scenarios is one of the main goals of quantum information theory. A prominent example for such a scenario is the task of quantum state merging, where two parties aim to merge their tripartite quantum state parts. In standard quantum state merging, entanglement is considered to be an expensive resource, while local quantum operations can be performed at no additional cost. However, recent developments show that some local operations could be more expensive than others: it is reasonable to distinguish between local incoherent operations and local operations which can create coherence. This idea leads us to the task of incoherent quantum state merging, where one of the parties has free access to local incoherent operations only. In this case the resources of the process are quantified by pairs of entanglement and coherence. Here, we develop tools for studying this process and apply them to several relevant scenarios. While quantum state merging can lead to a gain of entanglement, our results imply that no merging procedure can gain entanglement and coherence at the same time. We also provide a general lower bound on the entanglement-coherence sum and show that the bound is tight for all pure states. Our results also lead to an incoherent version of Schumacher compression: in this case the compression rate is equal to the von Neumann entropy of the diagonal elements of the corresponding quantum state.

Effects of Different Quantum Coherence on the Pump-Probe Polarization Anisotropy of Photosynthetic Light-Harvesting Complexes: A Computational Study.

PubMed

Bai, Shuming; Song, Kai; Shi, Qiang

2015-05-21

Observations of oscillatory features in the 2D spectra of several photosynthetic complexes have led to diverged opinions on their origins, including electronic coherence, vibrational coherence, and vibronic coherence. In this work, effects of these different types of quantum coherence on ultrafast pump-probe polarization anisotropy are investigated and distinguished. We first simulate the isotropic pump-probe signal and anisotropy decay of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) complex using a model with only electronic coherence at low temperature and obtain the same coherence time as in the previous experiment. Then, three model dimer systems with different prespecified quantum coherence are simulated, and the results show that their different spectral characteristics can be used to determine the type of coherence during the spectral process. Finally, we simulate model systems with different electronic-vibrational couplings and reveal the condition in which long time vibronic coherence can be observed in systems like the FMO complex.

Optimal discrimination of M coherent states with a small quantum computer

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

Silva, Marcus P. da; Guha, Saikat; Dutton, Zachary

2014-12-04

The ability to distinguish between coherent states optimally plays in important role in the efficient usage of quantum resources for classical communication and sensing applications. While it has been known since the early 1970’s how to optimally distinguish between two coherent states, generalizations to larger sets of coherent states have so far failed to reach optimality. In this work we outline how optimality can be achieved by using a small quantum computer, building on recent proposals for optimal qubit state discrimination with multiple copies.

On the role of dealing with quantum coherence in amplitude amplification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rastegin, Alexey E.

2018-07-01

Amplitude amplification is one of primary tools in building algorithms for quantum computers. This technique generalizes key ideas of the Grover search algorithm. Potentially useful modifications are connected with changing phases in the rotation operations and replacing the intermediate Hadamard transform with arbitrary unitary one. In addition, arbitrary initial distribution of the amplitudes may be prepared. We examine trade-off relations between measures of quantum coherence and the success probability in amplitude amplification processes. As measures of coherence, the geometric coherence and the relative entropy of coherence are considered. In terms of the relative entropy of coherence, complementarity relations with the success probability seem to be the most expository. The general relations presented are illustrated within several model scenarios of amplitude amplification processes.

Combining multinuclear high-resolution solid-state MAS NMR and computational methods for resonance assignment of glutathione tripeptide.

PubMed

Sardo, Mariana; Siegel, Renée; Santos, Sérgio M; Rocha, João; Gomes, José R B; Mafra, Luis

2012-06-28

We present a complete set of experimental approaches for the NMR assignment of powdered tripeptide glutathione at natural isotopic abundance, based on J-coupling and dipolar NMR techniques combined with (1)H CRAMPS decoupling. To fully assign the spectra, two-dimensional (2D) high-resolution methods, such as (1)H-(13)C INEPT-HSQC/PRESTO heteronuclear correlations (HETCOR), (1)H-(1)H double-quantum (DQ), and (1)H-(14)N D-HMQC correlation experiments, have been used. To support the interpretation of the experimental data, periodic density functional theory calculations together with the GIPAW approach have been used to calculate the (1)H and (13)C chemical shifts. It is found that the shifts calculated with two popular plane wave codes (CASTEP and Quantum ESPRESSO) are in excellent agreement with the experimental results.

Continuous-variable quantum network coding for coherent states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shang, Tao; Li, Ke; Liu, Jian-wei

2017-04-01

As far as the spectral characteristic of quantum information is concerned, the existing quantum network coding schemes can be looked on as the discrete-variable quantum network coding schemes. Considering the practical advantage of continuous variables, in this paper, we explore two feasible continuous-variable quantum network coding (CVQNC) schemes. Basic operations and CVQNC schemes are both provided. The first scheme is based on Gaussian cloning and ADD/SUB operators and can transmit two coherent states across with a fidelity of 1/2, while the second scheme utilizes continuous-variable quantum teleportation and can transmit two coherent states perfectly. By encoding classical information on quantum states, quantum network coding schemes can be utilized to transmit classical information. Scheme analysis shows that compared with the discrete-variable paradigms, the proposed CVQNC schemes provide better network throughput from the viewpoint of classical information transmission. By modulating the amplitude and phase quadratures of coherent states with classical characters, the first scheme and the second scheme can transmit 4{log _2}N and 2{log _2}N bits of information by a single network use, respectively.

Thermal quantum coherence and correlation in the extended XY spin chain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sha, Ya-Ting; Wang, Yue; Sun, Zheng-Hang; Hou, Xi-Wen

2018-05-01

Quantum coherence and correlation of thermal states in the extended XY spin chain are studied in terms of the recently proposed l1 norm, skew information, and Bures distance of geometry discord (BGD), respectively. The entanglement measured via concurrence is calculated for reference. A two-dimensional susceptibility is introduced to explore their capability in highlighting the critical lines associated with quantum phase transitions in the model. It is shown that the susceptibility of the skew information and BGD is a genuine indicator of quantum phase transitions, and characterizes the factorization. However, the l1 norm is trivial for the factorization. An explicit scaling law of BGD is captured at low temperature in the XY model. In contrast to the entanglement, quantum coherence reveals a kind of long-range nonclassical correlation. Moreover, the obvious relation among model parameters is extracted for the factorized line in the extended model. Those are instructive for the understanding of quantum coherence and correlation in the theory of quantum information, and quantum phase transitions and factorization in condensed-matter physics.

Coherence-generating power of quantum dephasing processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Styliaris, Georgios; Campos Venuti, Lorenzo; Zanardi, Paolo

2018-03-01

We provide a quantification of the capability of various quantum dephasing processes to generate coherence out of incoherent states. The measures defined, admitting computable expressions for any finite Hilbert-space dimension, are based on probabilistic averages and arise naturally from the viewpoint of coherence as a resource. We investigate how the capability of a dephasing process (e.g., a nonselective orthogonal measurement) to generate coherence depends on the relevant bases of the Hilbert space over which coherence is quantified and the dephasing process occurs, respectively. We extend our analysis to include those Lindblad time evolutions which, in the infinite-time limit, dephase the system under consideration and calculate their coherence-generating power as a function of time. We further identify specific families of such time evolutions that, although dephasing, have optimal (over all quantum processes) coherence-generating power for some intermediate time. Finally, we investigate the coherence-generating capability of random dephasing channels.

Emergence of electron coherence and two-color all-optical switching in MoS2 based on spatial self-phase modulation

PubMed Central

Wu, Yanling; Wu, Qiong; Sun, Fei; Cheng, Cai; Meng, Sheng; Zhao, Jimin

2015-01-01

Generating electron coherence in quantum materials is essential in optimal control of many-body interactions and correlations. In a multidomain system this signifies nonlocal coherence and emergence of collective phenomena, particularly in layered 2D quantum materials possessing novel electronic structures and high carrier mobilities. Here we report nonlocal ac electron coherence induced in dispersed MoS2 flake domains, using coherent spatial self-phase modulation (SSPM). The gap-dependent nonlinear dielectric susceptibility χ(3) measured is surprisingly large, where direct interband transition and two-photon SSPM are responsible for excitations above and below the bandgap, respectively. A wind-chime model is proposed to account for the emergence of the ac electron coherence. Furthermore, all-optical switching is achieved based on SSPM, especially with two-color intraband coherence, demonstrating that electron coherence generation is a ubiquitous property of layered quantum materials. PMID:26351696

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.

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

Cavity-Mediated Coherent Coupling between Distant Quantum Dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicolí, Giorgio; Ferguson, Michael Sven; Rössler, Clemens; Wolfertz, Alexander; Blatter, Gianni; Ihn, Thomas; Ensslin, Klaus; Reichl, Christian; Wegscheider, Werner; Zilberberg, Oded

2018-06-01

Scalable architectures for quantum information technologies require one to selectively couple long-distance qubits while suppressing environmental noise and cross talk. In semiconductor materials, the coherent coupling of a single spin on a quantum dot to a cavity hosting fermionic modes offers a new solution to this technological challenge. Here, we demonstrate coherent coupling between two spatially separated quantum dots using an electronic cavity design that takes advantage of whispering-gallery modes in a two-dimensional electron gas. The cavity-mediated, long-distance coupling effectively minimizes undesirable direct cross talk between the dots and defines a scalable architecture for all-electronic semiconductor-based quantum information processing.

Coherent quantum dynamics of a superconducting flux qubit.

PubMed

Chiorescu, I; Nakamura, Y; Harmans, C J P M; Mooij, J E

2003-03-21

We have observed coherent time evolution between two quantum states of a superconducting flux qubit comprising three Josephson junctions in a loop. The superposition of the two states carrying opposite macroscopic persistent currents is manipulated by resonant microwave pulses. Readout by means of switching-event measurement with an attached superconducting quantum interference device revealed quantum-state oscillations with high fidelity. Under strong microwave driving, it was possible to induce hundreds of coherent oscillations. Pulsed operations on this first sample yielded a relaxation time of 900 nanoseconds and a free-induction dephasing time of 20 nanoseconds. These results are promising for future solid-state quantum computing.

Implementation of generalized quantum measurements for unambiguous discrimination of multiple non-orthogonal coherent states.

PubMed

Becerra, F E; Fan, J; Migdall, A

2013-01-01

Generalized quantum measurements implemented to allow for measurement outcomes termed inconclusive can perform perfect discrimination of non-orthogonal states, a task which is impossible using only measurements with definitive outcomes. Here we demonstrate such generalized quantum measurements for unambiguous discrimination of four non-orthogonal coherent states and obtain their quantum mechanical description, the positive-operator valued measure. For practical realizations of this positive-operator valued measure, where noise and realistic imperfections prevent perfect unambiguous discrimination, we show that our experimental implementation outperforms any ideal standard-quantum-limited measurement performing the same non-ideal unambiguous state discrimination task for coherent states with low mean photon numbers.

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.

The sudden death and sudden birth of quantum discord.

PubMed

Xia, Wei; Hou, Jin-Xing; Wang, Xiao-Hui; Liu, Si-Yuan

2018-03-28

The interaction of quantum system and its environment brings out abundant quantum phenomenons. The sudden death of quantum resources, including entanglement, quantum discord and coherence, have been studied from the perspective of quantum breaking channels (QBC). QBC of quantum resources reveal the common features of quantum resources. The definition of QBC implies the relationship between quantum resources. However, sudden death of quantum resources can also appear under some other quantum channels. We consider the dynamics of Bell-diagonal states under a stochastic dephasing noise along the z-direction, and the sudden death and sudden birth of quantum discord are investigated. Next we explain this phenomenon from the geometric structure of quantum discord. According to the above results, the states with sudden death and sudden birth can be filtered in three-parameter space. Then we provide two necessary conditions to judge which kind of noise channels can make Bell-diagonal states sudden death and sudden birth. Moreover, the relation between quantum discord and coherence indicates that the sudden death and sudden birth of quantum discord implies the sudden death and sudden birth of coherence in an optimal basis.

Hilbert-Schmidt quantum coherence in multi-qudit systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maziero, Jonas

2017-11-01

Using Bloch's parametrization for qudits ( d-level quantum systems), we write the Hilbert-Schmidt distance (HSD) between two generic n-qudit states as an Euclidean distance between two vectors of observables mean values in R^{Π_{s=1}nds2-1}, where ds is the dimension for qudit s. Then, applying the generalized Gell-Mann's matrices to generate SU(ds), we use that result to obtain the Hilbert-Schmidt quantum coherence (HSC) of n-qudit systems. As examples, we consider in detail one-qubit, one-qutrit, two-qubit, and two copies of one-qubit states. In this last case, the possibility for controlling local and non-local coherences by tuning local populations is studied, and the contrasting behaviors of HSC, l1-norm coherence, and relative entropy of coherence in this regard are noticed. We also investigate the decoherent dynamics of these coherence functions under the action of qutrit dephasing and dissipation channels. At last, we analyze the non-monotonicity of HSD under tensor products and report the first instance of a consequence (for coherence quantification) of this kind of property of a quantum distance measure.

Coherent Optical Control of Electronic Excitations in Wide-Band-Gap Semiconductor Structures

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-05-01

ABSTRACT The main objective of this research is to study coherent quantum effects, such as Rabi oscillations in optical spectra of wide- band-gap...field corresponds to the rotation of the B vector about the pseudo field vector, Ω, with components determined by the effective Rabi frequency ( )e...to examine coherent quantum effects, such as Rabi oscillations and quantum entanglement in optical spectra of wide-band-gap materials, and to

Quantum coherence effects in natural light-induced processes: cis-trans photoisomerization of model retinal under incoherent excitation.

PubMed

Tscherbul, Timur V; Brumer, Paul

2015-12-14

We present a theoretical study of quantum coherence effects in the primary cis-trans photoisomerization of retinal in rhodopsin induced by incoherent solar light. Using the partial secular Bloch-Redfield quantum master equation approach based on a two-state two-mode linear vibronic coupling model of the retinal chromophore [S. Hahn and G. Stock, J. Phys. Chem. B, 2000, 104, 1146-1149], we show that a sudden turn-on of incoherent pumping can generate substantial Fano coherences among the excited states of retinal. These coherences are the most pronounced in the regime where the matrix elements of the transition dipole moment between the ground and excited eigenstates are parallel to one another. We show that even when the transition dipole moments are perpendicular (implying the absence of light-induced Fano coherence) a small amount of excited-state coherence is still generated due to the coupling to intramolecular vibrational modes and the protein environment, causing depopulation of the excited eigenstates. The overall effect of the coherences on the steady-state population and on the photoproduct quantum yield is shown to be small; however we observe a significant transient effect on the formation of the trans photoproduct, enhancing the photoreaction quantum yield by ∼11% at 200 fs. These calculations suggest that coupling to intramolecular vibrational modes and the protein environment play an important role in photoreaction dynamics, suppressing oscillations in the quantum yield associated with Fano interference.

Algorithmic complexity of quantum capacity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oskouei, Samad Khabbazi; Mancini, Stefano

2018-04-01

We analyze the notion of quantum capacity from the perspective of algorithmic (descriptive) complexity. To this end, we resort to the concept of semi-computability in order to describe quantum states and quantum channel maps. We introduce algorithmic entropies (like algorithmic quantum coherent information) and derive relevant properties for them. Then we show that quantum capacity based on semi-computable concept equals the entropy rate of algorithmic coherent information, which in turn equals the standard quantum capacity. Thanks to this, we finally prove that the quantum capacity, for a given semi-computable channel, is limit computable.

Phase-Sensitive Coherence and the Classical-Quantum Boundary in Ghost Imaging

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erkmen, Baris I.; Hardy, Nicholas D.; Venkatraman, Dheera; Wong, Franco N. C.; Shapiro, Jeffrey H.

2011-01-01

The theory of partial coherence has a long and storied history in classical statistical optics. the vast majority of this work addresses fields that are statistically stationary in time, hence their complex envelopes only have phase-insensitive correlations. The quantum optics of squeezed-state generation, however, depends on nonlinear interactions producing baseband field operators with phase-insensitive and phase-sensitive correlations. Utilizing quantum light to enhance imaging has been a topic of considerable current interest, much of it involving biphotons, i.e., streams of entangled-photon pairs. Biphotons have been employed for quantum versions of optical coherence tomography, ghost imaging, holography, and lithography. However, their seemingly quantum features have been mimicked with classical-sate light, questioning wherein lies the classical-quantum boundary. We have shown, for the case of Gaussian-state light, that this boundary is intimately connected to the theory of phase-sensitive partial coherence. Here we present that theory, contrasting it with the familiar case of phase-insensitive partial coherence, and use it to elucidate the classical-quantum boundary of ghost imaging. We show, both theoretically and experimentally, that classical phase-sensitive light produces ghost imaging most closely mimicking those obtained in biphotons, and we derived the spatial resolution, image contrast, and signal-to-noise ratio of a standoff-sensing ghost imager, taking into account target-induced speckle.

A dressed spin qubit in silicon

DOE PAGES

Laucht, Arne; Kalra, Rachpon; Simmons, Stephanie; ...

2016-10-17

Coherent dressing of a quantum two-level system provides access to a new quantum system with improved properties—a different and easily tunable level splitting, faster control and longer coherence times. In our work we investigate the properties of the dressed, donor-bound electron spin in silicon, and assess its potential as a quantum bit in scalable architectures. The two dressed spin-polariton levels constitute a quantum bit that can be coherently driven with an oscillating magnetic field, an oscillating electric field, frequency modulation of the driving field or a simple detuning pulse. We measure coherence times of T* 2p = 2.4 ms andmore » T Hahn 2p = 9 ms, one order of magnitude longer than those of the undressed spin. Moreover, the use of the dressed states enables coherent coupling of the solid-state spins to electric fields and mechanical oscillations.« less

Coherent quantum depletion of an interacting atom condensate

PubMed Central

Kira, M.

2015-01-01

Sufficiently strong interactions promote coherent quantum transitions in spite of thermalization and losses, which are the adversaries of delicate effects such as reversibility and correlations. In atomic Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs), strong atom–atom interactions can eject atoms from the BEC to the normal component, yielding quantum depletion instead of temperature depletion. A recent experiment has already been verified to overcome losses. Here I show that it also achieves coherent quantum-depletion dynamics in a BEC swept fast enough from weak to strong atom–atom interactions. The elementary coherent process first excites the normal component into a liquid state that evolves into a spherical shell state, where the atom occupation peaks at a finite momentum to shield 50% of the BEC atoms from annihilation. The identified coherent processes resemble ultrafast semiconductor excitations expanding the scope of BEC explorations to many-body non-equilibrium studies. PMID:25767044

Emergence of coherence and the dynamics of quantum phase transitions

PubMed Central

Braun, Simon; Friesdorf, Mathis; Hodgman, Sean S.; Schreiber, Michael; Ronzheimer, Jens Philipp; Riera, Arnau; del Rey, Marco; Bloch, Immanuel; Eisert, Jens

2015-01-01

The dynamics of quantum phase transitions pose one of the most challenging problems in modern many-body physics. Here, we study a prototypical example in a clean and well-controlled ultracold atom setup by observing the emergence of coherence when crossing the Mott insulator to superfluid quantum phase transition. In the 1D Bose–Hubbard model, we find perfect agreement between experimental observations and numerical simulations for the resulting coherence length. We, thereby, perform a largely certified analog quantum simulation of this strongly correlated system reaching beyond the regime of free quasiparticles. Experimentally, we additionally explore the emergence of coherence in higher dimensions, where no classical simulations are available, as well as for negative temperatures. For intermediate quench velocities, we observe a power-law behavior of the coherence length, reminiscent of the Kibble–Zurek mechanism. However, we find nonuniversal exponents that cannot be captured by this mechanism or any other known model. PMID:25775515

Gaussian private quantum channel with squeezed coherent states

PubMed Central

Jeong, Kabgyun; Kim, Jaewan; Lee, Su-Yong

2015-01-01

While the objective of conventional quantum key distribution (QKD) is to secretly generate and share the classical bits concealed in the form of maximally mixed quantum states, that of private quantum channel (PQC) is to secretly transmit individual quantum states concealed in the form of maximally mixed states using shared one-time pad and it is called Gaussian private quantum channel (GPQC) when the scheme is in the regime of continuous variables. We propose a GPQC enhanced with squeezed coherent states (GPQCwSC), which is a generalization of GPQC with coherent states only (GPQCo) [Phys. Rev. A 72, 042313 (2005)]. We show that GPQCwSC beats the GPQCo for the upper bound on accessible information. As a subsidiary example, it is shown that the squeezed states take an advantage over the coherent states against a beam splitting attack in a continuous variable QKD. It is also shown that a squeezing operation can be approximated as a superposition of two different displacement operations in the small squeezing regime. PMID:26364893

Gaussian private quantum channel with squeezed coherent states.

PubMed

Jeong, Kabgyun; Kim, Jaewan; Lee, Su-Yong

2015-09-14

While the objective of conventional quantum key distribution (QKD) is to secretly generate and share the classical bits concealed in the form of maximally mixed quantum states, that of private quantum channel (PQC) is to secretly transmit individual quantum states concealed in the form of maximally mixed states using shared one-time pad and it is called Gaussian private quantum channel (GPQC) when the scheme is in the regime of continuous variables. We propose a GPQC enhanced with squeezed coherent states (GPQCwSC), which is a generalization of GPQC with coherent states only (GPQCo) [Phys. Rev. A 72, 042313 (2005)]. We show that GPQCwSC beats the GPQCo for the upper bound on accessible information. As a subsidiary example, it is shown that the squeezed states take an advantage over the coherent states against a beam splitting attack in a continuous variable QKD. It is also shown that a squeezing operation can be approximated as a superposition of two different displacement operations in the small squeezing regime.

Complete Quantum Control of a Single Silicon-Vacancy Center in a Diamond Nanopillar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jingyuan Linda; Lagoudakis, Konstantinos G.; Tzeng, Yan-Kai; Dory, Constantin; Radulaski, Marina; Kelaita, Yousif; Shen, Zhi-Xun; Melosh, Nicholas A.; Chu, Steven; Vuckovic, Jelena

Coherent quantum control of a quantum bit (qubit) is an important step towards its use in a quantum network. SiV- center in diamond offers excellent physical qualities such as low inhomogeneous broadening, fast photon emission, and a large Debye-Waller factor, while the fast spin manipulation and techniques to extend the spin coherence time are under active investigation. Here, we demonstrate full coherent control over the state of a single SiV- center in a diamond nanopillar using ultrafast optical pulses. The high quality of the chemical vapor deposition grown SiV- centers allows us to coherently manipulate and quasi-resonantly read out the state of the single SiV- center. Moreover, the SiV- centers being coherently controlled are integrated into diamond nanopillar arrays in a site-controlled, individually addressable manner with high yield, low strain, and high spectral stability, which paves the way for scalable on chip optically accessible quantum system in a quantum photonic network. Financial support is provided by the DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences through Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) under contract DE-AC02-76SF00515.

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.

Coherent states for quantum compact groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jurĉo, B.; Ŝťovíĉek, P.

1996-12-01

Coherent states are introduced and their properties are discussed for simple quantum compact groups A l, Bl, Cl and D l. The multiplicative form of the canonical element for the quantum double is used to introduce the holomorphic coordinates on a general quantum dressing orbit. The coherent state is interpreted as a holomorphic function on this orbit with values in the carrier Hilbert space of an irreducible representation of the corresponding quantized enveloping algebra. Using Gauss decomposition, the commutation relations for the holomorphic coordinates on the dressing orbit are derived explicitly and given in a compact R-matrix formulation (generalizing this way the q-deformed Grassmann and flag manifolds). The antiholomorphic realization of the irreducible representations of a compact quantum group (the analogue of the Borel-Weil construction) is described using the concept of coherent state. The relation between representation theory and non-commutative differential geometry is suggested.

Coherent all-optical control of ultracold atoms arrays in permanent magnetic traps.

PubMed

Abdelrahman, Ahmed; Mukai, Tetsuya; Häffner, Hartmut; Byrnes, Tim

2014-02-10

We propose a hybrid architecture for quantum information processing based on magnetically trapped ultracold atoms coupled via optical fields. The ultracold atoms, which can be either Bose-Einstein condensates or ensembles, are trapped in permanent magnetic traps and are placed in microcavities, connected by silica based waveguides on an atom chip structure. At each trapping center, the ultracold atoms form spin coherent states, serving as a quantum memory. An all-optical scheme is used to initialize, measure and perform a universal set of quantum gates on the single and two spin-coherent states where entanglement can be generated addressably between spatially separated trapped ultracold atoms. This allows for universal quantum operations on the spin coherent state quantum memories. We give detailed derivations of the composite cavity system mediated by a silica waveguide as well as the control scheme. Estimates for the necessary experimental conditions for a working hybrid device are given.

Nanosecond-timescale spin transfer using individual electrons in a quadruple-quantum-dot device

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

Baart, T. A.; Jovanovic, N.; Vandersypen, L. M. K.

2016-07-25

The ability to coherently transport electron-spin states between different sites of gate-defined semiconductor quantum dots is an essential ingredient for a quantum-dot-based quantum computer. Previous shuttles using electrostatic gating were too slow to move an electron within the spin dephasing time across an array. Here, we report a nanosecond-timescale spin transfer of individual electrons across a quadruple-quantum-dot device. Utilizing enhanced relaxation rates at a so-called hot spot, we can upper bound the shuttle time to at most 150 ns. While actual shuttle times are likely shorter, 150 ns is already fast enough to preserve spin coherence in, e.g., silicon based quantum dots.more » This work therefore realizes an important prerequisite for coherent spin transfer in quantum dot arrays.« less

Fault-tolerant linear optical quantum computing with small-amplitude coherent States.

PubMed

Lund, A P; Ralph, T C; Haselgrove, H L

2008-01-25

Quantum computing using two coherent states as a qubit basis is a proposed alternative architecture with lower overheads but has been questioned as a practical way of performing quantum computing due to the fragility of diagonal states with large coherent amplitudes. We show that using error correction only small amplitudes (alpha>1.2) are required for fault-tolerant quantum computing. We study fault tolerance under the effects of small amplitudes and loss using a Monte Carlo simulation. The first encoding level resources are orders of magnitude lower than the best single photon scheme.

Some New Properties of Quantum Correlations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Feng; Li, Fei; Wei, Yunxia

2017-02-01

Quantum coherence measures the correlation between different measurement results in a single-system, while entanglement and quantum discord measure the correlation among different subsystems in a multipartite system. In this paper, we focus on the relative entropy form of them, and obtain three new properties of them as follows: 1) General forms of maximally coherent states for the relative entropy coherence, 2) Linear monogamy of the relative entropy entanglement, and 3) Subadditivity of quantum discord. Here, the linear monogamy is defined as there is a small constant as the upper bound on the sum of the relative entropy entanglement in subsystems.

Discord as a quantum resource for bi-partite communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chrzanowski, Helen M.; Gu, Mile; Assad, Syed M.; Symul, Thomas; Modi, Kavan; Ralph, Timothy C.; Vedral, Vlatko; Lam, Ping Koy

2014-12-01

Coherent interactions that generate negligible entanglement can still exhibit unique quantum behaviour. This observation has motivated a search beyond entanglement for a complete description of all quantum correlations. Quantum discord is a promising candidate. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that under certain measurement constraints, discord between bipartite systems can be consumed to encode information that can only be accessed by coherent quantum interactions. The inability to access this information by any other means allows us to use discord to directly quantify this `quantum advantage'.

Toward a superconducting quantum computer. Harnessing macroscopic quantum coherence.

PubMed

Tsai, Jaw-Shen

2010-01-01

Intensive research on the construction of superconducting quantum computers has produced numerous important achievements. The quantum bit (qubit), based on the Josephson junction, is at the heart of this research. This macroscopic system has the ability to control quantum coherence. This article reviews the current state of quantum computing as well as its history, and discusses its future. Although progress has been rapid, the field remains beset with unsolved issues, and there are still many new research opportunities open to physicists and engineers.

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.

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

Zhang, Z. D.; Wang, J.; Department of Chemistry, SUNY Stony Brook, New York 11794

We established a theoretical framework in terms of the curl flux, population landscape, and coherence for non-equilibrium quantum systems at steady state, through exploring the energy and charge transport in molecular processes. The curl quantum flux plays the key role in determining transport properties and the system reaches equilibrium when flux vanishes. The novel curl quantum flux reflects the degree of non-equilibriumness and the time-irreversibility. We found an analytical expression for the quantum flux and its relationship to the environmental pumping (non-equilibriumness quantified by the voltage away from the equilibrium) and the quantum tunneling. Furthermore, we investigated another quantum signature,more » the coherence, quantitatively measured by the non-zero off diagonal element of the density matrix. Populations of states give the probabilities of individual states and therefore quantify the population landscape. Both curl flux and coherence depend on steady state population landscape. Besides the environment-assistance which can give dramatic enhancement of coherence and quantum flux with high voltage at a fixed tunneling strength, the quantum flux is promoted by the coherence in the regime of small tunneling while reduced by the coherence in the regime of large tunneling, due to the non-monotonic relationship between the coherence and tunneling. This is in contrast to the previously found linear relationship. For the systems coupled to bosonic (photonic and phononic) reservoirs the flux is significantly promoted at large voltage while for fermionic (electronic) reservoirs the flux reaches a saturation after a significant enhancement at large voltage due to the Pauli exclusion principle. In view of the system as a quantum heat engine, we studied the non-equilibrium thermodynamics and established the analytical connections of curl quantum flux to the transport quantities such as energy (charge) transfer efficiency, chemical reaction efficiency, energy dissipation, heat and electric currents observed in the experiments. We observed a perfect transfer efficiency in chemical reactions at high voltage (chemical potential difference). Our theoretical predicted behavior of the electric current with respect to the voltage is in good agreements with the recent experiments on electron transfer in single molecules.« less

Fidelity criterion for quantum-domain transmission and storage of coherent states beyond the unit-gain constraint.

PubMed

Namiki, Ryo; Koashi, Masato; Imoto, Nobuyuki

2008-09-05

We generalize the experimental success criterion for quantum teleportation (memory) in continuous-variable quantum systems to be suitable for a non-unit-gain condition by considering attenuation (amplification) of the coherent-state amplitude. The new criterion can be used for a nonideal quantum memory and long distance quantum communication as well as quantum devices with amplification process. It is also shown that the framework to measure the average fidelity is capable of detecting all Gaussian channels in the quantum domain.

Delayed coherent quantum feedback from a scattering theory and a matrix product state perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guimond, P.-O.; Pletyukhov, M.; Pichler, H.; Zoller, P.

2017-12-01

We study the scattering of photons propagating in a semi-infinite waveguide terminated by a mirror and interacting with a quantum emitter. This paradigm constitutes an example of coherent quantum feedback, where light emitted towards the mirror gets redirected back to the emitter. We derive an analytical solution for the scattering of two-photon states, which is based on an exact resummation of the perturbative expansion of the scattering matrix, in a regime where the time delay of the coherent feedback is comparable to the timescale of the quantum emitter’s dynamics. We compare the results with numerical simulations based on matrix product state techniques simulating the full dynamics of the system, and extend the study to the scattering of coherent states beyond the low-power limit.

The set of triple-resonance sequences with a multiple quantum coherence evolution period

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koźmiński, Wiktor; Zhukov, Igor

2004-12-01

The new pulse sequence building block that relies on evolution of heteronuclear multiple quantum coherences is proposed. The particular chemical shifts are obtained in multiple quadrature, using linear combinations of frequencies taken from spectra measured at different quantum levels. The pulse sequences designed in this way consist of small number of RF-pulses, are as short as possible, and could be applied for determination of coupling constants. The examples presented involve 2D correlations H NCO, H NCA, H N(CO) CA, and H(N) COCA via heteronuclear zero and double coherences, as well as 2D H NCOCA technique with simultaneous evolution of triple and three distinct single quantum coherences. Applications of the new sequences are presented for 13C, 15N-labeled ubiquitin.

Biochemical diversity of betaines in earthworms

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

Liebeke, Manuel; Bundy, Jacob G., E-mail: j.bundy@imperial.ac.uk

2013-01-25

Highlights: ► We develop a method for rapid untargetted analysis of betaines. ► We profile betaines in a comparative study of ten earthworm species. ► Earthworms contain a surprisingly high number of different betaine metabolites. ► Earthworms contain betaines normally seen only in plants or marine animals. -- Abstract: The ability to accumulate osmoprotectant compounds, such as betaines, is an important evolutionary feature in many organisms. This is particularly the case for organisms that live in variable environments, which may have fluctuations in moisture and salinity levels. There is, surprisingly, very little known about betaines in soil invertebrates in general,more » and there is almost no information about earthworms – a group that are important ‘ecosystem engineers’ and key indicators of soil health. Here, we describe a fast and reliable {sup 1}H–{sup 13}C heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) 2D NMR approach for the metabolic profiling of a series of betaines and related metabolites in tissue extracts, and list {sup 1}H and {sup 13}C chemical shifts for the trimethylammonium signal for 23 such compounds. The analysis of ten different species from three different families (Lumbricidae, Megascolecidae and Glossoscolecidae) showed an unexpected diversity of betaines present in earthworms. In total ten betaines were identified, including hydroxyproline-betaine, proline-betaine, taurine-betaine, GABA-betaine and histidine-betaine, and a further eleven as-yet unassigned putative betaine metabolites detected. The findings clearly indicate a hitherto-unappreciated important role for betaine metabolism in earthworms.« less

Changes in Lignin and Polysaccharide Components in 13 Cultivars of Rice Straw following Dilute Acid Pretreatment as Studied by Solution-State 2D 1H-13C NMR

PubMed Central

Teramura, Hiroshi; Sasaki, Kengo; Oshima, Tomoko; Aikawa, Shimpei; Matsuda, Fumio; Okamoto, Mami; Shirai, Tomokazu; Kawaguchi, Hideo; Ogino, Chiaki; Yamasaki, Masanori; Kikuchi, Jun; Kondo, Akihiko

2015-01-01

A renewable raw material, rice straw is pretreated for biorefinery usage. Solution-state two-dimensional (2D) 1H-13 C hetero-nuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, was used to analyze 13 cultivars of rice straw before and after dilute acid pretreatment, to characterize general changes in the lignin and polysaccharide components. Intensities of most (15 of 16) peaks related to lignin aromatic regions, such as p-coumarate, guaiacyl, syringyl, p-hydroxyphenyl, and cinnamyl alcohol, and methoxyl, increased or remained unchanged after pretreatment. In contrast, intensities of most (11 of 13) peaks related to lignin aliphatic linkages or ferulate decreased. Decreased heterogeneity in the intensities of three peaks related to cellulose components in acid-insoluble residues resulted in similar glucose yield (0.45–0.59 g/g-dry biomass). Starch-derived components showed positive correlations (r = 0.71 to 0.96) with glucose, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), and formate concentrations in the liquid hydrolysates, and negative correlations (r = –0.95 to –0.97) with xylose concentration and acid-insoluble residue yield. These results showed the fate of lignin and polysaccharide components by pretreatment, suggesting that lignin aromatic regions and cellulose components were retained in the acid insoluble residues and starch-derived components were transformed into glucose, 5-HMF, and formate in the liquid hydrolysate. PMID:26083431

Identification and characterization of small molecule inhibitors of the calcium-dependent S100B-p53 tumor suppressor interaction.

PubMed

Markowitz, Joseph; Chen, Ijen; Gitti, Rossi; Baldisseri, Donna M; Pan, Yongping; Udan, Ryan; Carrier, France; MacKerell, Alexander D; Weber, David J

2004-10-07

The binding of S100B to p53 down-regulates wild-type p53 tumor suppressor activity in cancer cells such as malignant melanoma, so a search for small molecules that bind S100B and prevent S100B-p53 complex formation was undertaken. Chemical databases were computationally searched for potential inhibitors of S100B, and 60 compounds were selected for testing on the basis of energy scoring, commercial availability, and chemical similarity clustering. Seven of these compounds bound to S100B as determined by steady state fluorescence spectroscopy (1.0 microM < or = K(D) < or = 120 microM) and five inhibited the growth of primary malignant melanoma cells (C8146A) at comparable concentrations (1.0 microM < or = IC(50) < or = 50 microM). Additionally, saturation transfer difference (STD) NMR experiments confirmed binding and qualitatively identified protons from the small molecule at the small molecule-S100B interface. Heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) NMR titrations indicate that these compounds interact with the p53 binding site on S100B. An NMR-docked model of one such inhibitor, pentamidine, bound to Ca(2+)-loaded S100B was calculated using intermolecular NOE data between S100B and the drug, and indicates that pentamidine binds into the p53 binding site on S100B defined by helices 3 and 4 and loop 2 (termed the hinge region).

Continuous-variable quantum cryptography is secure against non-Gaussian attacks.

PubMed

Grosshans, Frédéric; Cerf, Nicolas J

2004-01-30

A general study of arbitrary finite-size coherent attacks against continuous-variable quantum cryptographic schemes is presented. It is shown that, if the size of the blocks that can be coherently attacked by an eavesdropper is fixed and much smaller than the key size, then the optimal attack for a given signal-to-noise ratio in the transmission line is an individual Gaussian attack. Consequently, non-Gaussian coherent attacks do not need to be considered in the security analysis of such quantum cryptosystems.

Carrier-envelope phase-dependent atomic coherence and quantum beats

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

Wu Ying; State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071; Yang Xiaoxue

2007-07-15

It is shown that the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of few-cycle laser pulses has profound effects on the bound-state atomic coherence even in the weak-field regime where both tunneling and multiphoton ionization hardly take place. The atomic coherence thus produced is shown to be able to be mapped onto the CEP-dependent signal of quantum beats (and other quantum-interference phenomena) and hence might be used to extract information about and ultimately to measure the carrier-envelope phase.

Coherent attacking continuous-variable quantum key distribution with entanglement in the middle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zhaoyuan; Shi, Ronghua; Zeng, Guihua; Guo, Ying

2018-06-01

We suggest an approach on the coherent attack of continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) with an untrusted entangled source in the middle. The coherent attack strategy can be performed on the double links of quantum system, enabling the eavesdropper to steal more information from the proposed scheme using the entanglement correlation. Numeric simulation results show the improved performance of the attacked CVQKD system in terms of the derived secret key rate with the controllable parameters maximizing the stolen information.

Polarization-Dependent Interference of Coherent Scattering from Orthogonal Dipole Moments of a Resonantly Excited Quantum Dot.

PubMed

Chen, Disheng; Lander, Gary R; Solomon, Glenn S; Flagg, Edward B

2017-01-20

Resonant photoluminescence excitation (RPLE) spectra of a neutral InGaAs quantum dot show unconventional line shapes that depend on the detection polarization. We characterize this phenomenon by performing polarization-dependent RPLE measurements and simulating the measured spectra with a three-level quantum model. The spectra are explained by interference between fields coherently scattered from the two fine structure split exciton states, and the measurements enable extraction of the steady-state coherence between the two exciton states.

Gaussian entanglement generation from coherence using beam-splitters

PubMed Central

Wang, Zhong-Xiao; Wang, Shuhao; Ma, Teng; Wang, Tie-Jun; Wang, Chuan

2016-01-01

The generation and quantification of quantum entanglement is crucial for quantum information processing. Here we study the transition of Gaussian correlation under the effect of linear optical beam-splitters. We find the single-mode Gaussian coherence acts as the resource in generating Gaussian entanglement for two squeezed states as the input states. With the help of consecutive beam-splitters, single-mode coherence and quantum entanglement can be converted to each other. Our results reveal that by using finite number of beam-splitters, it is possible to extract all the entanglement from the single-mode coherence even if the entanglement is wiped out before each beam-splitter. PMID:27892537

Distribution of geometric quantum discord in photon-added coherent states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daoud, M.; Kaydi, W.; El Hadfi, H.

2015-12-01

In this paper, we examine the influence of photon excitation on the monogamy property of quantum discord in tripartite coherent states of Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) type. The Hilbert-Schmidt norm is used as quantifier of pairwise quantum correlations. The geometric quantum discord in all bipartite subsystems are explicitly given. We show that the geometric discord is monogamous for any photon excitation order.

A variational eigenvalue solver on a photonic quantum processor

PubMed Central

Peruzzo, Alberto; McClean, Jarrod; Shadbolt, Peter; Yung, Man-Hong; Zhou, Xiao-Qi; Love, Peter J.; Aspuru-Guzik, Alán; O’Brien, Jeremy L.

2014-01-01

Quantum computers promise to efficiently solve important problems that are intractable on a conventional computer. For quantum systems, where the physical dimension grows exponentially, finding the eigenvalues of certain operators is one such intractable problem and remains a fundamental challenge. The quantum phase estimation algorithm efficiently finds the eigenvalue of a given eigenvector but requires fully coherent evolution. Here we present an alternative approach that greatly reduces the requirements for coherent evolution and combine this method with a new approach to state preparation based on ansätze and classical optimization. We implement the algorithm by combining a highly reconfigurable photonic quantum processor with a conventional computer. We experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of this approach with an example from quantum chemistry—calculating the ground-state molecular energy for He–H+. The proposed approach drastically reduces the coherence time requirements, enhancing the potential of quantum resources available today and in the near future. PMID:25055053

Quantum-coherent mixtures of causal relations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maclean, Jean-Philippe W.; Ried, Katja; Spekkens, Robert W.; Resch, Kevin J.

2017-05-01

Understanding the causal influences that hold among parts of a system is critical both to explaining that system's natural behaviour and to controlling it through targeted interventions. In a quantum world, understanding causal relations is equally important, but the set of possibilities is far richer. The two basic ways in which a pair of time-ordered quantum systems may be causally related are by a cause-effect mechanism or by a common-cause acting on both. Here we show a coherent mixture of these two possibilities. We realize this nonclassical causal relation in a quantum optics experiment and derive a set of criteria for witnessing the coherence based on a quantum version of Berkson's effect, whereby two independent causes can become correlated on observation of their common effect. The interplay of causality and quantum theory lies at the heart of challenging foundational puzzles, including Bell's theorem and the search for quantum gravity.

Quantum-coherent mixtures of causal relations

PubMed Central

MacLean, Jean-Philippe W.; Ried, Katja; Spekkens, Robert W.; Resch, Kevin J.

2017-01-01

Understanding the causal influences that hold among parts of a system is critical both to explaining that system's natural behaviour and to controlling it through targeted interventions. In a quantum world, understanding causal relations is equally important, but the set of possibilities is far richer. The two basic ways in which a pair of time-ordered quantum systems may be causally related are by a cause-effect mechanism or by a common-cause acting on both. Here we show a coherent mixture of these two possibilities. We realize this nonclassical causal relation in a quantum optics experiment and derive a set of criteria for witnessing the coherence based on a quantum version of Berkson's effect, whereby two independent causes can become correlated on observation of their common effect. The interplay of causality and quantum theory lies at the heart of challenging foundational puzzles, including Bell's theorem and the search for quantum gravity. PMID:28485394

Quantum-coherent mixtures of causal relations.

PubMed

MacLean, Jean-Philippe W; Ried, Katja; Spekkens, Robert W; Resch, Kevin J

2017-05-09

Understanding the causal influences that hold among parts of a system is critical both to explaining that system's natural behaviour and to controlling it through targeted interventions. In a quantum world, understanding causal relations is equally important, but the set of possibilities is far richer. The two basic ways in which a pair of time-ordered quantum systems may be causally related are by a cause-effect mechanism or by a common-cause acting on both. Here we show a coherent mixture of these two possibilities. We realize this nonclassical causal relation in a quantum optics experiment and derive a set of criteria for witnessing the coherence based on a quantum version of Berkson's effect, whereby two independent causes can become correlated on observation of their common effect. The interplay of causality and quantum theory lies at the heart of challenging foundational puzzles, including Bell's theorem and the search for quantum gravity.

Enhancing quantum sensing sensitivity by a quantum memory

PubMed Central

Zaiser, Sebastian; Rendler, Torsten; Jakobi, Ingmar; Wolf, Thomas; Lee, Sang-Yun; Wagner, Samuel; Bergholm, Ville; Schulte-Herbrüggen, Thomas; Neumann, Philipp; Wrachtrup, Jörg

2016-01-01

In quantum sensing, precision is typically limited by the maximum time interval over which phase can be accumulated. Memories have been used to enhance this time interval beyond the coherence lifetime and thus gain precision. Here, we demonstrate that by using a quantum memory an increased sensitivity can also be achieved. To this end, we use entanglement in a hybrid spin system comprising a sensing and a memory qubit associated with a single nitrogen-vacancy centre in diamond. With the memory we retain the full quantum state even after coherence decay of the sensor, which enables coherent interaction with distinct weakly coupled nuclear spin qubits. We benchmark the performance of our hybrid quantum system against use of the sensing qubit alone by gradually increasing the entanglement of sensor and memory. We further apply this quantum sensor-memory pair for high-resolution NMR spectroscopy of single 13C nuclear spins. PMID:27506596

Slow Light Using Electromagnetically Induced Transparency from Spin Coherence in [110] Strained Quantum Wells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chang, Shu-Wei; Chang-Hasnain, Connie J.; Wang, Hailin

2005-03-01

The electromagnetically induced transparency from spin coherence has been proposed in [001] quantum wells recently. [1] The spin coherence is a potential candidate to demonstrate semiconductor-based slow light at room temperature. However, the spin coherence time is not long enough to demonstrate a significant slowdown factor in [001] quantum wells. Further, the required transition of light-hole excitons lies in the absorption of heavy-hole continuum states. The extra dephasing and absorption from these continuum states are drawbacks for slow light. Here, we propose to use [110] strained quantum wells instead of [001] quantum wells. The long spin relaxation time in [110] quantum wells at room temperature, and thus more robust spin coherence, [2] as well as the strain-induced separation [3, 4] of the light-hole exciton transition from the heavy-hole continuum absorption can help to slow down light in quantum wells. [1] T. Li, H. Wang, N. H. Kwong, and R. Binder, Opt. Express 11, 3298 (2003). [2] Y. Ohno, R. Terauchi, T. Adachi, F. Matsukura, and H. Ohno, Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 4196 (1999). [3] C. Y. P. Chao and S. L. Chuang, Phys. Rev. B 46, 4110 (1992). [4] C. Jagannath, E. S. Koteles, J. Lee, Y. J. Chen, B. S. Elman, and J. Y. Chi, Phys. Rev. B 34, 7027 (1986).

Coherent quantum dynamics launched by incoherent relaxation in a quantum circuit simulator of a light-harvesting complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chin, A. W.; Mangaud, E.; Atabek, O.; Desouter-Lecomte, M.

2018-06-01

Engineering and harnessing coherent excitonic transport in organic nanostructures has recently been suggested as a promising way towards improving manmade light-harvesting materials. However, realizing and testing the dissipative system-environment models underlying these proposals is presently very challenging in supramolecular materials. A promising alternative is to use simpler and highly tunable "quantum simulators" built from programmable qubits, as recently achieved in a superconducting circuit by Potočnik et al. [A. Potočnik et al., Nat. Commun. 9, 904 (2018), 10.1038/s41467-018-03312-x]. We simulate the real-time dynamics of an exciton coupled to a quantum bath as it moves through a network based on the quantum circuit of Potočnik et al. Using the numerically exact hierarchical equations of motion to capture the open quantum system dynamics, we find that an ultrafast but completely incoherent relaxation from a high-lying "bright" exciton into a doublet of closely spaced "dark" excitons can spontaneously generate electronic coherences and oscillatory real-space motion across the network (quantum beats). Importantly, we show that this behavior also survives when the environmental noise is classically stochastic (effectively high temperature), as in present experiments. These predictions highlight the possibilities of designing matched electronic and spectral noise structures for robust coherence generation that do not require coherent excitation or cold environments.

Quantum coherence of biophotons and living systems.

PubMed

Bajpai, R P

2003-05-01

Coherence is a property of the description of the system in the classical framework in which the subunits of a system act in a cooperative manner. Coherence becomes classical if the agent causing cooperation is discernible otherwise it is quantum coherence. Both stimulated and spontaneous biophoton signals show properties that can be attributed to the cooperative actions of many photon-emitting units. But the agents responsible for the cooperative actions of units have not been discovered so far. The stimulated signal decays with non-exponential character. It is system and situation specific and sensitive to many physiological and environmental factors. Its measurable holistic parameters are strength, shape, relative strengths of spectral components, and excitation curve. The spontaneous signal is non-decaying with the probabilities of detecting various number of photons to be neither normal nor Poisson. The detected probabilities in a signal of Parmelia tinctorum match with probabilities expected in a squeezed state of photons. It is speculated that an in vivo nucleic acid molecule is an assembly of intermittent quantum patches that emit biophoton in quantum transitions. The distributions of quantum patches and their lifetimes determine the holistic features of biophoton signals, so that the coherence of biophotons is merely a manifestation of the coherence of living systems.

Coherent feedback control of a single qubit in diamond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hirose, Masashi; Cappellaro, Paola

2016-04-01

Engineering desired operations on qubits subjected to the deleterious effects of their environment is a critical task in quantum information processing, quantum simulation and sensing. The most common approach relies on open-loop quantum control techniques, including optimal-control algorithms based on analytical or numerical solutions, Lyapunov design and Hamiltonian engineering. An alternative strategy, inspired by the success of classical control, is feedback control. Because of the complications introduced by quantum measurement, closed-loop control is less pervasive in the quantum setting and, with exceptions, its experimental implementations have been mainly limited to quantum optics experiments. Here we implement a feedback-control algorithm using a solid-state spin qubit system associated with the nitrogen vacancy centre in diamond, using coherent feedback to overcome the limitations of measurement-based feedback, and show that it can protect the qubit against intrinsic dephasing noise for milliseconds. In coherent feedback, the quantum system is connected to an auxiliary quantum controller (ancilla) that acquires information about the output state of the system (by an entangling operation) and performs an appropriate feedback action (by a conditional gate). In contrast to open-loop dynamical decoupling techniques, feedback control can protect the qubit even against Markovian noise and for an arbitrary period of time (limited only by the coherence time of the ancilla), while allowing gate operations. It is thus more closely related to quantum error-correction schemes, although these require larger and increasing qubit overheads. Increasing the number of fresh ancillas enables protection beyond their coherence time. We further evaluate the robustness of the feedback protocol, which could be applied to quantum computation and sensing, by exploring a trade-off between information gain and decoherence protection, as measurement of the ancilla-qubit correlation after the feedback algorithm voids the protection, even if the rest of the dynamics is unchanged.

An improved scheme on decoy-state method for measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution.

PubMed

Wang, Dong; Li, Mo; Guo, Guang-Can; Wang, Qin

2015-10-14

Quantum key distribution involving decoy-states is a significant application of quantum information. By using three-intensity decoy-states of single-photon-added coherent sources, we propose a practically realizable scheme on quantum key distribution which approaches very closely the ideal asymptotic case of an infinite number of decoy-states. We make a comparative study between this scheme and two other existing ones, i.e., two-intensity decoy-states with single-photon-added coherent sources, and three-intensity decoy-states with weak coherent sources. Through numerical analysis, we demonstrate the advantages of our scheme in secure transmission distance and the final key generation rate.

Comparative Study of the Structure of Hydroproducts Derived from Loblolly Pine and Straw Grass

DOE PAGES

Wu, Qiong; Huang, Lang; Yu, Shitao; ...

2017-05-26

We investigated the structural characteristics of products derived from the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of loblolly pine (LP) and straw grass (SG) via solid-state cross-polarization/magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (CP/MAS 13C NMR), heteronuclear single-quantum correlation nuclear magnetic resonance (HSQC-NMR), and solution 13C NMR and 31P NMR techniques. Our results revealed that after HTC, hydrochars from both LP and SG mainly consisted of a combination of lignin, furfural, and condensed polyaromatic structures with a high level of fixed carbon content and higher heating value (HHV). Hydrochar from LP exhibited a higher aryl to furan ratio, and those from SG contained moremore » aliphatic functional groups. Solution 13C NMR and HSQC revealed that both liquid chemicals were condensed polyphenolic structures with aliphatic groups that exist mainly in the form of side chains. Although the LP products exhibited a higher proportion of aromatic structures, the types of polyphenol and aliphatic C–H were more diverse in the SG products. Results also indicated that reactions such as chain scission and condensation occurred during hydrothermal carbonization processes. Overall, HTC was found to be an effective refinery treatment for converting different waste biomass into valuable energy materials and chemicals.« less

Comparative Study of the Structure of Hydroproducts Derived from Loblolly Pine and Straw Grass

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

Wu, Qiong; Huang, Lang; Yu, Shitao

We investigated the structural characteristics of products derived from the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of loblolly pine (LP) and straw grass (SG) via solid-state cross-polarization/magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (CP/MAS 13C NMR), heteronuclear single-quantum correlation nuclear magnetic resonance (HSQC-NMR), and solution 13C NMR and 31P NMR techniques. Our results revealed that after HTC, hydrochars from both LP and SG mainly consisted of a combination of lignin, furfural, and condensed polyaromatic structures with a high level of fixed carbon content and higher heating value (HHV). Hydrochar from LP exhibited a higher aryl to furan ratio, and those from SG contained moremore » aliphatic functional groups. Solution 13C NMR and HSQC revealed that both liquid chemicals were condensed polyphenolic structures with aliphatic groups that exist mainly in the form of side chains. Although the LP products exhibited a higher proportion of aromatic structures, the types of polyphenol and aliphatic C–H were more diverse in the SG products. Results also indicated that reactions such as chain scission and condensation occurred during hydrothermal carbonization processes. Overall, HTC was found to be an effective refinery treatment for converting different waste biomass into valuable energy materials and chemicals.« less

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

Hao, Naijia; Bezerra, Tais Lacerda; Wu, Qiong

Pyrolysis is a promising method for converting biomass to biofuels. However, some of pyrolysis oil's physiochemical properties still limit its commercial applications. Here, the autohydrolysis pretreatment at 175 ± 3 °C for 40 min was conducted to improve the resulting pine pyrolysis oil’s properties as a fuel. During autohydrolysis, deacetylation and decomposition of hemicellulose was observed by ion-exchange chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Additionally, the cleavage of lignin ether bonds was clearly determined by 13C cross-polarization/magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Phosphitylation followed by 31P NMR analysis of the heavy oils gave detailed structural information ofmore » the hydroxyl groups; the results revealed that autohydrolysis pretreatment led to a reduction of carboxyl acids in the heavy oils generated at all three pyrolysis temperatures (400, 500, and 600 °C). The 31P NMR analysis also revealed that autohydrolysis pretreatment led to a reduction of condensed phenolic hydroxyl groups in the heavy oils produced at 600 °C. 1H- 13C heteronuclear single-quantum correlation (HSQC) NMR analysis showed that at a pyrolysis temperature of 600 °C, the pretreated pine produced lower methoxy group constituents. In both 31P and HSQC NMR results indicated that autohydrolysis pretreatment increased levoglucosan yields in the bio-oils.« less

Infinite-mode squeezed coherent states and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics (phase-space-picture approach)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yeh, Leehwa

1993-01-01

The phase-space-picture approach to quantum non-equilibrium statistical mechanics via the characteristic function of infinite-mode squeezed coherent states is introduced. We use quantum Brownian motion as an example to show how this approach provides an interesting geometrical interpretation of quantum non-equilibrium phenomena.

Relating the Resource Theories of Entanglement and Quantum Coherence.

PubMed

Chitambar, Eric; Hsieh, Min-Hsiu

2016-07-08

Quantum coherence and quantum entanglement represent two fundamental features of nonclassical systems that can each be characterized within an operational resource theory. In this Letter, we unify the resource theories of entanglement and coherence by studying their combined behavior in the operational setting of local incoherent operations and classical communication (LIOCC). Specifically, we analyze the coherence and entanglement trade-offs in the tasks of state formation and resource distillation. For pure states we identify the minimum coherence-entanglement resources needed to generate a given state, and we introduce a new LIOCC monotone that completely characterizes a state's optimal rate of bipartite coherence distillation. This result allows us to precisely quantify the difference in operational powers between global incoherent operations, LIOCC, and local incoherent operations without classical communication. Finally, a bipartite mixed state is shown to have distillable entanglement if and only if entanglement can be distilled by LIOCC, and we strengthen the well-known Horodecki criterion for distillability.

Relating the Resource Theories of Entanglement and Quantum Coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chitambar, Eric; Hsieh, Min-Hsiu

2016-07-01

Quantum coherence and quantum entanglement represent two fundamental features of nonclassical systems that can each be characterized within an operational resource theory. In this Letter, we unify the resource theories of entanglement and coherence by studying their combined behavior in the operational setting of local incoherent operations and classical communication (LIOCC). Specifically, we analyze the coherence and entanglement trade-offs in the tasks of state formation and resource distillation. For pure states we identify the minimum coherence-entanglement resources needed to generate a given state, and we introduce a new LIOCC monotone that completely characterizes a state's optimal rate of bipartite coherence distillation. This result allows us to precisely quantify the difference in operational powers between global incoherent operations, LIOCC, and local incoherent operations without classical communication. Finally, a bipartite mixed state is shown to have distillable entanglement if and only if entanglement can be distilled by LIOCC, and we strengthen the well-known Horodecki criterion for distillability.

Experimental tests of coherence and entanglement conservation under unitary evolutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Černoch, Antonín; Bartkiewicz, Karol; Lemr, Karel; Soubusta, Jan

2018-04-01

We experimentally demonstrate the migration of coherence between composite quantum systems and their subsystems. The quantum systems are implemented using polarization states of photons in two experimental setups. The first setup is based on a linear optical controlled-phase quantum gate and the second scheme utilizes effects of nonlinear optics. Our experiment allows one to verify the relation between correlations of the subsystems and the coherence of the composite system, which was given in terms of a conservation law for maximal accessible coherence by Svozilík et al. [J. Svozilík et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 220501 (2015), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.220501]. We observe that the maximal accessible coherence is conserved for the implemented class of global evolutions of the composite system.

Continuous Variable Quantum Key Distribution Using Polarized Coherent States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vidiella-Barranco, A.; Borelli, L. F. M.

We discuss a continuous variables method of quantum key distribution employing strongly polarized coherent states of light. The key encoding is performed using the variables known as Stokes parameters, rather than the field quadratures. Their quantum counterpart, the Stokes operators Ŝi (i=1,2,3), constitute a set of non-commuting operators, being the precision of simultaneous measurements of a pair of them limited by an uncertainty-like relation. Alice transmits a conveniently modulated two-mode coherent state, and Bob randomly measures one of the Stokes parameters of the incoming beam. After performing reconciliation and privacy amplification procedures, it is possible to distill a secret common key. We also consider a non-ideal situation, in which coherent states with thermal noise, instead of pure coherent states, are used for encoding.

Nonlocal interferometry with macroscopic coherent states and its application to quantum communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirby, Brian

Macroscopic quantum effects are of fundamental interest because they help us to understand the quantum-classical boundary, and may also have important practical applications in long-range quantum communications. Specifically we analyze a macroscopic generalization of the Franson interferometer, where violations of Bell's inequality can be observed using phase entangled coherent states created using weak nonlinearities. Furthermore we want to understand how these states, and other macroscopic quantum states, can be applied to secure quantum communications. We find that Bell's inequality can be violated at ranges of roughly 400 km in optical fiber when various unambiguous state discrimination techniques are applied. In addition Monte Carlo simulations suggest that quantum communications schemes based on macroscopic quantum states and random unitary transformations can be potentially secure at long distances. Lastly, we calculate the feasibility of creating the weak nonlinearity needed for the experimental realization of these proposals using metastable xenon in a high finesse cavity. This research suggests that quantum states created using macroscopic coherent states and weak nonlinearities may be a realistic path towards the realization of secure long-range quantum communications.

Transient Evolutional Dynamics of Quantum-Dot Molecular Phase Coherence for Sensitive Optical Switching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Jian Qi; Gu, Jing

2018-04-01

Atomic phase coherence (quantum interference) in a multilevel atomic gas exhibits a number of interesting phenomena. Such an atomic quantum coherence effect can be generalized to a quantum-dot molecular dielectric. Two quantum dots form a quantum-dot molecule, which can be described by a three-level Λ-configuration model { |0> ,|1> ,|2> } , i.e., the ground state of the molecule is the lower level |0> and the highly degenerate electronic states in the two quantum dots are the two upper levels |1> ,|2> . The electromagnetic characteristics due to the |0>-|1> transition can be controllably manipulated by a tunable gate voltage (control field) that drives the |2>-|1> transition. When the gate voltage is switched on, the quantum-dot molecular state can evolve from one steady state (i.e., |0>-|1> two-level dressed state) to another steady state (i.e., three-level coherent-population-trapping state). In this process, the electromagnetic characteristics of a quantum-dot molecular dielectric, which is modified by the gate voltage, will also evolve. In this study, the transient evolutional behavior of the susceptibility of a quantum-dot molecular thin film and its reflection spectrum are treated by using the density matrix formulation of the multilevel systems. The present field-tunable and frequency-sensitive electromagnetic characteristics of a quantum-dot molecular thin film, which are sensitive to the applied gate voltage, can be utilized to design optical switching devices.

Quantum logic gates based on coherent electron transport in quantum wires.

PubMed

Bertoni, A; Bordone, P; Brunetti, R; Jacoboni, C; Reggiani, S

2000-06-19

It is shown that the universal set of quantum logic gates can be realized using solid-state quantum bits based on coherent electron transport in quantum wires. The elementary quantum bits are realized with a proper design of two quantum wires coupled through a potential barrier. Numerical simulations show that (a) a proper design of the coupling barrier allows one to realize any one-qbit rotation and (b) Coulomb interaction between two qbits of this kind allows the implementation of the CNOT gate. These systems are based on a mature technology and seem to be integrable with conventional electronics.

Coherent exciton transport in dendrimers and continuous-time quantum walks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mülken, Oliver; Bierbaum, Veronika; Blumen, Alexander

2006-03-01

We model coherent exciton transport in dendrimers by continuous-time quantum walks. For dendrimers up to the second generation the coherent transport shows perfect recurrences when the initial excitation starts at the central node. For larger dendrimers, the recurrence ceases to be perfect, a fact which resembles results for discrete quantum carpets. Moreover, depending on the initial excitation site, we find that the coherent transport to certain nodes of the dendrimer has a very low probability. When the initial excitation starts from the central node, the problem can be mapped onto a line which simplifies the computational effort. Furthermore, the long time average of the quantum mechanical transition probabilities between pairs of nodes shows characteristic patterns and allows us to classify the nodes into clusters with identical limiting probabilities. For the (space) average of the quantum mechanical probability to be still or to be again at the initial site, we obtain, based on the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality, a simple lower bound which depends only on the eigenvalue spectrum of the Hamiltonian.

Generating the Local Oscillator "Locally" in Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution Based on Coherent Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qi, Bing; Lougovski, Pavel; Pooser, Raphael; Grice, Warren; Bobrek, Miljko

2015-10-01

Continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) protocols based on coherent detection have been studied extensively in both theory and experiment. In all the existing implementations of CV-QKD, both the quantum signal and the local oscillator (LO) are generated from the same laser and propagate through the insecure quantum channel. This arrangement may open security loopholes and limit the potential applications of CV-QKD. In this paper, we propose and demonstrate a pilot-aided feedforward data recovery scheme that enables reliable coherent detection using a "locally" generated LO. Using two independent commercial laser sources and a spool of 25-km optical fiber, we construct a coherent communication system. The variance of the phase noise introduced by the proposed scheme is measured to be 0.04 (rad2 ), which is small enough to enable secure key distribution. This technology also opens the door for other quantum communication protocols, such as the recently proposed measurement-device-independent CV-QKD, where independent light sources are employed by different users.

Evolution of multiple quantum coherences with scaled dipolar Hamiltonian

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sánchez, Claudia M.; Buljubasich, Lisandro; Pastawski, Horacio M.; Chattah, Ana K.

2017-08-01

In this article, we introduce a pulse sequence which allows the monitoring of multiple quantum coherences distribution of correlated spin states developed with scaled dipolar Hamiltonian. The pulse sequence is a modification of our previous Proportionally Refocused Loschmidt echo (PRL echo) with phase increment, in order to verify the accuracy of the weighted coherent quantum dynamics. The experiments were carried out with different scaling factors to analyze the evolution of the total magnetization, the time dependence of the multiple quantum coherence orders, and the development of correlated spins clusters. In all cases, a strong dependence between the evolution rate and the weighting factor is observed. Remarkably, all the curves appeared overlapped in a single trend when plotted against the self-time, a new time scale that includes the scaling factor into the evolution time. In other words, the spin system displayed always the same quantum evolution, slowed down as the scaling factor decreases, confirming the high performance of the new pulse sequence.

Quantum coherence and entanglement control for atom-cavity systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shu, Wenchong

Coherence and entanglement play a significant role in the quantum theory. Ideal quantum systems, "closed" to the outside world, remain quantum forever and thus manage to retain coherence and entanglement. Real quantum systems, however, are open to the environment and are therefore susceptible to the phenomenon of decoherence and disentanglement which are major hindrances to the effectiveness of quantum information processing tasks. In this thesis we have theoretically studied the evolution of coherence and entanglement in quantum systems coupled to various environments. We have also studied ways and means of controlling the decay of coherence and entanglement. We have studied the exact qubit entanglement dynamics of some interesting initial states coupled to a high-Q cavity containing zero photon, one photon, two photons and many photons respectively. We have found that an initially correlated environmental state can serve as an enhancer for entanglement decay or generation processes. More precisely, we have demonstrated that the degree of entanglement, including its collapse as well as its revival times, can be significantly modified by the correlated structure of the environmental modes. We have also studied dynamical decoupling (DD) technique --- a prominent strategy of controlling decoherence and preserving entanglement in open quantum systems. We have analyzed several DD control methods applied to qubit systems that can eliminate the system-environment coupling and prolong the quantum coherence time. Particularly, we have proposed a new DD sequence consisting a set of designed control operators that can universally protected an unknown qutrit state against colored phase and amplitude environment noises. In addition, in a non-Markovian regime, we have reformulated the quantum state diffusion (QSD) equation to incorporate the effect of the external control fields. Without any assumptions on the system-environment coupling and the size of environment, we have consistently solved the control dynamics of open quantum systems using this stochastic QSD approach. By implementing the QSD equation, our numerical results have revealed that how the control efficacy depends on the designed time points and shapes of the applied control pulses, and the environment memory time scale.

Doubly tagged delayed-choice tunable quantum eraser: coherence, information and measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imran, Muhammad; Tariq, Hinna; Rameez-ul-Islam; Ikram, Manzoor

2018-01-01

We present an idea for the doubly tagged delayed-choice tunable quantum eraser in a cavity QED setup, based on fully controlled resonant as well as dispersive atom-field interactions. Two cavity fields, bound initially in the Bell state, are coupled to a three-level atom. Such an atom is initially prepared in the coherent superposition of the lower two levels and is quite capable of exhibiting Ramsey fringes if taken independently. It is shown that the coherence lost due to tagging can not only be retrieved but that the fringe visibility/path distinguishability can also be conditionally tuned in a delayed manner through local manipulation of the entangled cavity fields. The stringent condition here is the retainment of the system’s coherence during successive manipulations of the individual cavity fields. Such a quantum eraser, therefore, prominently highlights the links among all the counterintuitive features of quantum theory including the conception of time, measurement, state vector reduction, coherence and information in an unambiguous manner. The schematics can be straightforwardly extended to a multipartite scenario and employed to explore multi-player quantum games with the payoff being strangely decided through delayed choice setups.

Noise management to achieve superiority in quantum information systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nemoto, Kae; Devitt, Simon; Munro, William J.

2017-06-01

Quantum information systems are expected to exhibit superiority compared with their classical counterparts. This superiority arises from the quantum coherences present in these quantum systems, which are obviously absent in classical ones. To exploit such quantum coherences, it is essential to control the phase information in the quantum state. The phase is analogue in nature, rather than binary. This makes quantum information technology fundamentally different from our classical digital information technology. In this paper, we analyse error sources and illustrate how these errors must be managed for the system to achieve the required fidelity and a quantum superiority. This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantum technology for the 21st century'.

Noise management to achieve superiority in quantum information systems.

PubMed

Nemoto, Kae; Devitt, Simon; Munro, William J

2017-08-06

Quantum information systems are expected to exhibit superiority compared with their classical counterparts. This superiority arises from the quantum coherences present in these quantum systems, which are obviously absent in classical ones. To exploit such quantum coherences, it is essential to control the phase information in the quantum state. The phase is analogue in nature, rather than binary. This makes quantum information technology fundamentally different from our classical digital information technology. In this paper, we analyse error sources and illustrate how these errors must be managed for the system to achieve the required fidelity and a quantum superiority.This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantum technology for the 21st century'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Monogamy Inequality for Any Local Quantum Resource and Entanglement.

PubMed

Camalet, S

2017-09-15

We derive a monogamy inequality for any local quantum resource and entanglement. It results from the fact that there is always a convex measure for a quantum resource, as shown here, and from the relation between entanglement and local entropy. One of its consequences is an entanglement monogamy different from that usually discussed. If the local resource is nonuniformity or coherence, it is satisfied by familiar resource and entanglement measures. The ensuing upper bound for the local coherence, determined by the entanglement, is independent of the basis used to define the coherence.

Protecting quantum information in superconducting circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devoret, Michel

Can we prolong the coherence of a two-state manifold in a complex quantum system beyond the coherence of its longest-lived component? This question is the starting point in the construction of a scalable quantum computer. It translates in the search for processes that operate as some sort of Maxwell's demon and reliably correct the errors resulting from the coupling between qubits and their environment. The presentation will review recent experiments that test the dynamical protection by Josephson circuits of a logical qubit memory based on superpositions of particular coherent states of a superconducting resonator.

Coupling strategies for coherent operation of quantum cascade ring laser arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwarzer, Clemens; Yao, Y.; Mujagić, E.; Ahn, S.; Schrenk, W.; Chen, J.; Gmachl, C.; Strasser, G.

2011-12-01

We report the design, fabrication and operation of coherently coupled ring cavity surface emitting quantum cascade lasers, emitting at wavelength around 8 μm. Special emphasis is placed on the evaluation of optimal coupling approaches and corresponding parameters. Evanescent field coupling as well as direct coupling where both devices are physically connected is presented. Furthermore, exploiting the Vernier-effect was used to obtain enhanced mode selectivity and robust coherent coupling of two ring-type quantum cascade lasers. Investigations were performed at pulsed room-temperature operation.

Monogamy Inequality for Any Local Quantum Resource and Entanglement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camalet, S.

2017-09-01

We derive a monogamy inequality for any local quantum resource and entanglement. It results from the fact that there is always a convex measure for a quantum resource, as shown here, and from the relation between entanglement and local entropy. One of its consequences is an entanglement monogamy different from that usually discussed. If the local resource is nonuniformity or coherence, it is satisfied by familiar resource and entanglement measures. The ensuing upper bound for the local coherence, determined by the entanglement, is independent of the basis used to define the coherence.

Integrated generation of complex optical quantum states and their coherent control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roztocki, Piotr; Kues, Michael; Reimer, Christian; Romero Cortés, Luis; Sciara, Stefania; Wetzel, Benjamin; Zhang, Yanbing; Cino, Alfonso; Chu, Sai T.; Little, Brent E.; Moss, David J.; Caspani, Lucia; Azaña, José; Morandotti, Roberto

2018-01-01

Complex optical quantum states based on entangled photons are essential for investigations of fundamental physics and are the heart of applications in quantum information science. Recently, integrated photonics has become a leading platform for the compact, cost-efficient, and stable generation and processing of optical quantum states. However, onchip sources are currently limited to basic two-dimensional (qubit) two-photon states, whereas scaling the state complexity requires access to states composed of several (<2) photons and/or exhibiting high photon dimensionality. Here we show that the use of integrated frequency combs (on-chip light sources with a broad spectrum of evenly-spaced frequency modes) based on high-Q nonlinear microring resonators can provide solutions for such scalable complex quantum state sources. In particular, by using spontaneous four-wave mixing within the resonators, we demonstrate the generation of bi- and multi-photon entangled qubit states over a broad comb of channels spanning the S, C, and L telecommunications bands, and control these states coherently to perform quantum interference measurements and state tomography. Furthermore, we demonstrate the on-chip generation of entangled high-dimensional (quDit) states, where the photons are created in a coherent superposition of multiple pure frequency modes. Specifically, we confirm the realization of a quantum system with at least one hundred dimensions. Moreover, using off-the-shelf telecommunications components, we introduce a platform for the coherent manipulation and control of frequencyentangled quDit states. Our results suggest that microcavity-based entangled photon state generation and the coherent control of states using accessible telecommunications infrastructure introduce a powerful and scalable platform for quantum information science.

Global coherence of quantum evolutions based on decoherent histories: Theory and application to photosynthetic quantum energy transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allegra, Michele; Giorda, Paolo; Lloyd, Seth

2016-04-01

Assessing the role of interference in natural and artificial quantum dynamical processes is a crucial task in quantum information theory. To this aim, an appropriate formalism is provided by the decoherent histories framework. While this approach has been deeply explored from different theoretical perspectives, it still lacks of a comprehensive set of tools able to concisely quantify the amount of coherence developed by a given dynamics. In this paper, we introduce and test different measures of the (average) coherence present in dissipative (Markovian) quantum evolutions, at various time scales and for different levels of environmentally induced decoherence. In order to show the effectiveness of the introduced tools, we apply them to a paradigmatic quantum process where the role of coherence is being hotly debated: exciton transport in photosynthetic complexes. To spot out the essential features that may determine the performance of the transport, we focus on a relevant trimeric subunit of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex and we use a simplified (Haken-Strobl) model for the system-bath interaction. Our analysis illustrates how the high efficiency of environmentally assisted transport can be traced back to a quantum recoil avoiding effect on the exciton dynamics, that preserves and sustains the benefits of the initial fast quantum delocalization of the exciton over the network. Indeed, for intermediate levels of decoherence, the bath is seen to selectively kill the negative interference between different exciton pathways, while retaining the initial positive one. The concepts and tools here developed show how the decoherent histories approach can be used to quantify the relation between coherence and efficiency in quantum dynamical processes.

Coherent and conventional gravidynamic quantum 1/f noise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Handel, Peter H.; George, Thomas F.

2008-04-01

Quantum 1/f noise is a fundamental fluctuation of currents, physical cross sections or process rates, caused by infrared coupling of the current carriers to very low frequency (soft) quanta, also known as infraquanta. The latter are soft gravitons in the gravidynamic case with the coupling constant g= pGM2/Nch considered here -- soft photons in the electrodynamic case and soft transversal piezo-phonons in the lattice-dynamical case. Here p=3.14 and F=psi. Quantum 1/f noise is a new aspect of quantum mechanics expressed mainly through the coherent quantum 1/f effect 2g/pf derived here for large systems, and mainly through the conventional quantum 1/f effect for small systems or individual particles. Both effects are present in general, and their effects are superposed in a first approximation with the help of a coherence (weight) parameter s" that will be derived elsewhere for the gravitational case. The spectral density of fractional fluctuations S(dj/j,f) for j=e(hk/2pm)|F|2 is S(F2,f)/<|F|2> = S(j,f)/2 = [4ps"/(1+s")]GM2/pfNch = 4.4 10E9 M2/(pfNgram2). Here s" = 2N'GM/c2=N'rs, where N' is the number of particles of mass M per unit length of the current, rs their Schwarzschild radius, and s" is our coherence (weight) parameter giving the ratio of coherent to conventional quantum 1/f contributions.

Quantum chaos: An entropy approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sl/omczyński, Wojciech; Życzkowski, Karol

1994-11-01

A new definition of the entropy of a given dynamical system and of an instrument describing the measurement process is proposed within the operational approach to quantum mechanics. It generalizes other definitions of entropy, in both the classical and quantum cases. The Kolmogorov-Sinai (KS) entropy is obtained for a classical system and the sharp measurement instrument. For a quantum system and a coherent states instrument, a new quantity, coherent states entropy, is defined. It may be used to measure chaos in quantum mechanics. The following correspondence principle is proved: the upper limit of the coherent states entropy of a quantum map as ℏ→0 is less than or equal to the KS-entropy of the corresponding classical map. ``Chaos umpire sits, And by decision more imbroils the fray By which he reigns: next him high arbiter Chance governs all.'' John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book II

A Biomimetic-Computational Approach to Optimizing the Quantum Efficiency of Photovoltaics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez, Lisa M.; Holzenburg, Andreas

The most advanced low-cost organic photovoltaic cells have a quantum efficiency of 10%. This is in stark contrast to plant/bacterial light-harvesting systems which offer quantum efficiencies close to unity. Of particular interest is the highly effective quantum coherence-enabled energy transfer (Fig. 1). Noting that quantum coherence is promoted by charged residues and local dielectrics, classical atomistic simulations and time-dependent density functional theory (DFT) are used to identify charge/dielectric patterns and electronic coupling at exactly defined energy transfer interfaces. The calculations make use of structural information obtained on photosynthetic protein-pigment complexes while still in the native membrane making it possible to establish a link between supramolecular organization and quantum coherence in terms of what length scales enable fast energy transport and prevent quenching. Calculating energy transfer efficiencies between components based on different proximities will permit the search for patterns that enable defining material properties suitable for advanced photovoltaics.

An improved scheme on decoy-state method for measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution

PubMed Central

Wang, Dong; Li, Mo; Guo, Guang-Can; Wang, Qin

2015-01-01

Quantum key distribution involving decoy-states is a significant application of quantum information. By using three-intensity decoy-states of single-photon-added coherent sources, we propose a practically realizable scheme on quantum key distribution which approaches very closely the ideal asymptotic case of an infinite number of decoy-states. We make a comparative study between this scheme and two other existing ones, i.e., two-intensity decoy-states with single-photon-added coherent sources, and three-intensity decoy-states with weak coherent sources. Through numerical analysis, we demonstrate the advantages of our scheme in secure transmission distance and the final key generation rate. PMID:26463580

The feasibility of coherent energy transfer in microtubules.

PubMed

Craddock, Travis John Adrian; Friesen, Douglas; Mane, Jonathan; Hameroff, Stuart; Tuszynski, Jack A

2014-11-06

It was once purported that biological systems were far too 'warm and wet' to support quantum phenomena mainly owing to thermal effects disrupting quantum coherence. However, recent experimental results and theoretical analyses have shown that thermal energy may assist, rather than disrupt, quantum coherent transport, especially in the 'dry' hydrophobic interiors of biomolecules. Specifically, evidence has been accumulating for the necessary involvement of quantum coherent energy transfer between uniquely arranged chromophores in light harvesting photosynthetic complexes. The 'tubulin' subunit proteins, which comprise microtubules, also possess a distinct architecture of chromophores, namely aromatic amino acids, including tryptophan. The geometry and dipolar properties of these aromatics are similar to those found in photosynthetic units indicating that tubulin may support coherent energy transfer. Tubulin aggregated into microtubule geometric lattices may support such energy transfer, which could be important for biological signalling and communication essential to living processes. Here, we perform a computational investigation of energy transfer between chromophoric amino acids in tubulin via dipole excitations coupled to the surrounding thermal environment. We present the spatial structure and energetic properties of the tryptophan residues in the microtubule constituent protein tubulin. Plausibility arguments for the conditions favouring a quantum mechanism of signal propagation along a microtubule are provided. Overall, we find that coherent energy transfer in tubulin and microtubules is biologically feasible. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Continuous Feedback and Macroscopic Coherence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tombesi, Paolo; Vitali, David

1996-01-01

We show that a model, recently introduced for quantum nondemolition measurements of a quantum observable, can be adapted to obtain a measurement scheme which is able to slow down the destruction of macroscopic coherence due to the measurement apparatus.

Quantum state engineering by a coherent superposition of photon subtraction and addition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Su-Yong; Nha, Hyunchul

2011-10-01

We study a coherent superposition tâ+r↠of field annihilation and creation operator acting on continuous variable systems and propose its application for quantum state engineering. We propose an experimental scheme to implement this elementary coherent operation and discuss its usefulness to produce an arbitrary superposition of number states involving up to two photons.

Theoretical Investigation of Optical Detection and Recognition of Single Biological Molecules Using Coherent Dynamics of Exciton-Plasmon Coupling

PubMed Central

Sadeghi, S. M.; Hood, B.; Patty, K. D.; Mao, C.-B.

2013-01-01

We use quantum coherence in a system consisting of one metallic nanorod and one semi-conductor quantum dot to investigate a plasmonic nanosensor capable of digital optical detection and recognition of single biological molecules. In such a sensor the adsorption of a specific molecule to the nanorod turns off the emission of the system when it interacts with an optical pulse having a certain intensity and temporal width. The proposed quantum sensors can count the number of molecules of the same type or differentiate between molecule types with digital optical signals that can be measured with high certainty. We show that these sensors are based on the ultrafast upheaval of coherent dynamics of the system and the removal of coherent blockage of energy transfer from the quantum dot to the nanorod once the adsorption process has occurred. PMID:24040424

Coherence in quantum estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giorda, Paolo; Allegra, Michele

2018-01-01

The geometry of quantum states provides a unifying framework for estimation processes based on quantum probes, and it establishes the ultimate bounds of the achievable precision. We show a relation between the statistical distance between infinitesimally close quantum states and the second order variation of the coherence of the optimal measurement basis with respect to the state of the probe. In quantum phase estimation protocols, this leads to propose coherence as the relevant resource that one has to engineer and control to optimize the estimation precision. Furthermore, the main object of the theory i.e. the symmetric logarithmic derivative, in many cases allows one to identify a proper factorization of the whole Hilbert space in two subsystems. The factorization allows one to discuss the role of coherence versus correlations in estimation protocols; to show how certain estimation processes can be completely or effectively described within a single-qubit subsystem; and to derive lower bounds for the scaling of the estimation precision with the number of probes used. We illustrate how the framework works for both noiseless and noisy estimation procedures, in particular those based on multi-qubit GHZ-states. Finally we succinctly analyze estimation protocols based on zero-temperature critical behavior. We identify the coherence that is at the heart of their efficiency, and we show how it exhibits the non-analyticities and scaling behavior proper of a large class of quantum phase transitions.

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.

Visible-to-telecom quantum frequency conversion of light from a single quantum emitter.

PubMed

Zaske, Sebastian; Lenhard, Andreas; Keßler, Christian A; Kettler, Jan; Hepp, Christian; Arend, Carsten; Albrecht, Roland; Schulz, Wolfgang-Michael; Jetter, Michael; Michler, Peter; Becher, Christoph

2012-10-05

We demonstrate efficient (>30%) quantum frequency conversion of visible single photons (711 nm) emitted by a quantum dot to a telecom wavelength (1313 nm). Analysis of the first- and second-order coherence before and after wavelength conversion clearly proves that pivotal properties, such as the coherence time and photon antibunching, are fully conserved during the frequency translation process. Our findings underline the great potential of single photon sources on demand in combination with quantum frequency conversion as a promising technique that may pave the way for a number of new applications in quantum technology.

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.

Cavity-based architecture to preserve quantum coherence and entanglement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Man, Zhong-Xiao; Xia, Yun-Jie; Lo Franco, Rosario

2015-09-01

Quantum technology relies on the utilization of resources, like quantum coherence and entanglement, which allow quantum information and computation processing. This achievement is however jeopardized by the detrimental effects of the environment surrounding any quantum system, so that finding strategies to protect quantum resources is essential. Non-Markovian and structured environments are useful tools to this aim. Here we show how a simple environmental architecture made of two coupled lossy cavities enables a switch between Markovian and non-Markovian regimes for the dynamics of a qubit embedded in one of the cavity. Furthermore, qubit coherence can be indefinitely preserved if the cavity without qubit is perfect. We then focus on entanglement control of two independent qubits locally subject to such an engineered environment and discuss its feasibility in the framework of circuit quantum electrodynamics. With up-to-date experimental parameters, we show that our architecture allows entanglement lifetimes orders of magnitude longer than the spontaneous lifetime without local cavity couplings. This cavity-based architecture is straightforwardly extendable to many qubits for scalability.

Cavity-based architecture to preserve quantum coherence and entanglement.

PubMed

Man, Zhong-Xiao; Xia, Yun-Jie; Lo Franco, Rosario

2015-09-09

Quantum technology relies on the utilization of resources, like quantum coherence and entanglement, which allow quantum information and computation processing. This achievement is however jeopardized by the detrimental effects of the environment surrounding any quantum system, so that finding strategies to protect quantum resources is essential. Non-Markovian and structured environments are useful tools to this aim. Here we show how a simple environmental architecture made of two coupled lossy cavities enables a switch between Markovian and non-Markovian regimes for the dynamics of a qubit embedded in one of the cavity. Furthermore, qubit coherence can be indefinitely preserved if the cavity without qubit is perfect. We then focus on entanglement control of two independent qubits locally subject to such an engineered environment and discuss its feasibility in the framework of circuit quantum electrodynamics. With up-to-date experimental parameters, we show that our architecture allows entanglement lifetimes orders of magnitude longer than the spontaneous lifetime without local cavity couplings. This cavity-based architecture is straightforwardly extendable to many qubits for scalability.

Cavity-based architecture to preserve quantum coherence and entanglement

PubMed Central

Man, Zhong-Xiao; Xia, Yun-Jie; Lo Franco, Rosario

2015-01-01

Quantum technology relies on the utilization of resources, like quantum coherence and entanglement, which allow quantum information and computation processing. This achievement is however jeopardized by the detrimental effects of the environment surrounding any quantum system, so that finding strategies to protect quantum resources is essential. Non-Markovian and structured environments are useful tools to this aim. Here we show how a simple environmental architecture made of two coupled lossy cavities enables a switch between Markovian and non-Markovian regimes for the dynamics of a qubit embedded in one of the cavity. Furthermore, qubit coherence can be indefinitely preserved if the cavity without qubit is perfect. We then focus on entanglement control of two independent qubits locally subject to such an engineered environment and discuss its feasibility in the framework of circuit quantum electrodynamics. With up-to-date experimental parameters, we show that our architecture allows entanglement lifetimes orders of magnitude longer than the spontaneous lifetime without local cavity couplings. This cavity-based architecture is straightforwardly extendable to many qubits for scalability. PMID:26351004

Nature does not rely on long-lived electronic quantum coherence for photosynthetic energy transfer.

PubMed

Duan, Hong-Guang; Prokhorenko, Valentyn I; Cogdell, Richard J; Ashraf, Khuram; Stevens, Amy L; Thorwart, Michael; Miller, R J Dwayne

2017-08-08

During the first steps of photosynthesis, the energy of impinging solar photons is transformed into electronic excitation energy of the light-harvesting biomolecular complexes. The subsequent energy transfer to the reaction center is commonly rationalized in terms of excitons moving on a grid of biomolecular chromophores on typical timescales [Formula: see text]100 fs. Today's understanding of the energy transfer includes the fact that the excitons are delocalized over a few neighboring sites, but the role of quantum coherence is considered as irrelevant for the transfer dynamics because it typically decays within a few tens of femtoseconds. This orthodox picture of incoherent energy transfer between clusters of a few pigments sharing delocalized excitons has been challenged by ultrafast optical spectroscopy experiments with the Fenna-Matthews-Olson protein, in which interference oscillatory signals up to 1.5 ps were reported and interpreted as direct evidence of exceptionally long-lived electronic quantum coherence. Here, we show that the optical 2D photon echo spectra of this complex at ambient temperature in aqueous solution do not provide evidence of any long-lived electronic quantum coherence, but confirm the orthodox view of rapidly decaying electronic quantum coherence on a timescale of 60 fs. Our results can be considered as generic and give no hint that electronic quantum coherence plays any biofunctional role in real photoactive biomolecular complexes. Because in this structurally well-defined protein the distances between bacteriochlorophylls are comparable to those of other light-harvesting complexes, we anticipate that this finding is general and directly applies to even larger photoactive biomolecular complexes.

Nature does not rely on long-lived electronic quantum coherence for photosynthetic energy transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duan, Hong-Guang; Prokhorenko, Valentyn I.; Cogdell, Richard J.; Ashraf, Khuram; Stevens, Amy L.; Thorwart, Michael; Miller, R. J. Dwayne

2017-08-01

During the first steps of photosynthesis, the energy of impinging solar photons is transformed into electronic excitation energy of the light-harvesting biomolecular complexes. The subsequent energy transfer to the reaction center is commonly rationalized in terms of excitons moving on a grid of biomolecular chromophores on typical timescales <<100 fs. Today’s understanding of the energy transfer includes the fact that the excitons are delocalized over a few neighboring sites, but the role of quantum coherence is considered as irrelevant for the transfer dynamics because it typically decays within a few tens of femtoseconds. This orthodox picture of incoherent energy transfer between clusters of a few pigments sharing delocalized excitons has been challenged by ultrafast optical spectroscopy experiments with the Fenna-Matthews-Olson protein, in which interference oscillatory signals up to 1.5 ps were reported and interpreted as direct evidence of exceptionally long-lived electronic quantum coherence. Here, we show that the optical 2D photon echo spectra of this complex at ambient temperature in aqueous solution do not provide evidence of any long-lived electronic quantum coherence, but confirm the orthodox view of rapidly decaying electronic quantum coherence on a timescale of 60 fs. Our results can be considered as generic and give no hint that electronic quantum coherence plays any biofunctional role in real photoactive biomolecular complexes. Because in this structurally well-defined protein the distances between bacteriochlorophylls are comparable to those of other light-harvesting complexes, we anticipate that this finding is general and directly applies to even larger photoactive biomolecular complexes.

Loss of coherence and memory effects in quantum dynamics Loss of coherence and memory effects in quantum dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benatti, Fabio; Floreanini, Roberto; Scholes, Greg

2012-08-01

The last years have witnessed fast growing developments in the use of quantum mechanics in technology-oriented and information-related fields, especially in metrology, in the developments of nano-devices and in understanding highly efficient transport processes. The consequent theoretical and experimental outcomes are now driving new experimental tests of quantum mechanical effects with unprecedented accuracies that carry with themselves the concrete possibility of novel technological spin-offs. Indeed, the manifold advances in quantum optics, atom and ion manipulations, spintronics and nano-technologies are allowing direct experimental verifications of new ideas and their applications to a large variety of fields. All of these activities have revitalized interest in quantum mechanics and created a unique framework in which theoretical and experimental physics have become fruitfully tangled with information theory, computer, material and life sciences. This special issue aims to provide an overview of what is currently being pursued in the field and of what kind of theoretical reference frame is being developed together with the experimental and theoretical results. It consists of three sections: 1. Memory effects in quantum dynamics and quantum channels 2. Driven open quantum systems 3. Experiments concerning quantum coherence and/or decoherence The first two sections are theoretical and concerned with open quantum systems. In all of the above mentioned topics, the presence of an external environment needs to be taken into account, possibly in the presence of external controls and/or forcing, leading to driven open quantum systems. The open system paradigm has proven to be central in the analysis and understanding of many basic issues of quantum mechanics, such as the measurement problem, quantum communication and coherence, as well as for an ever growing number of applications. The theory is, however, well-settled only when the so-called Markovian or memoryless, approximation applies. When strong coupling or long environmental relaxation times make memory effects important for a realistic description of the dynamics, new strategies are asked for and the assessment of the general structure of non-Markovian dynamical equations for realistic systems is a crucial issue. The impact of quantum phenomena such as coherence and entanglement in biology has recently started to be considered as a possible source of the high efficiency of certain biological mechanisms, including e.g. light harvesting in photosynthesis and enzyme catalysis. In this effort, the relatively unknown territory of driven open quantum systems is being explored from various directions, with special attention to the creation and stability of coherent structures away from thermal equilibrium. These investigations are likely to advance our understanding of the scope and role of quantum mechanics in living systems; at the same time they provide new ideas for the developments of next generations of devices implementing highly efficient energy harvesting and conversion. The third section concerns experimental studies that are currently being pursued. Multidimensional nonlinear spectroscopy, in particular, has played an important role in enabling experimental detection of the signatures of coherence. Recent remarkable results suggest that coherence—both electronic and vibrational—survive for substantial timescales even in complex biological systems. The papers reported in this issue describe work at the forefront of this field, where researchers are seeking a detailed understanding of the experimental signatures of coherence and its implications for light-induced processes in biology and chemistry.

Spin-locking of half-integer quadrupolar nuclei in nuclear magnetic resonance of solids: second-order quadrupolar and resonance offset effects.

PubMed

Ashbrook, Sharon E; Wimperis, Stephen

2009-11-21

Spin-locking of spin I=3/2 and I=5/2 nuclei in the presence of small resonance offset and second-order quadrupolar interactions has been investigated using both exact and approximate theoretical and experimental nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) approaches. In the presence of second-order quadrupolar interactions, we show that the initial rapid dephasing that arises from the noncommutation of the state prepared by the first pulse and the spin-locking Hamiltonian gives rise to tensor components of the spin density matrix that are antisymmetric with respect to inversion, in addition to those symmetric with respect to inversion that are found when only a first-order quadrupolar interaction is considered. We also find that spin-locking of multiple-quantum coherence in a static solid is much more sensitive to resonance offset than that of single-quantum coherence and show that good spin-locking of multiple-quantum coherence can still be achieved if the resonance offset matches the second-order shift of the multiple-quantum coherence in the appropriate reference frame. Under magic angle spinning (MAS) conditions, and in the "adiabatic" limit, we demonstrate that rotor-driven interconversion of central-transition single- and three-quantum coherences for a spin I=3/2 nucleus can be best achieved by performing the spin-locking on resonance with the three-quantum coherence in the three-quantum frame. Finally, in the "sudden" MAS limit, we show that spin I=3/2 spin-locking behavior is generally similar to that found in static solids, except when the central-transition nutation rate matches a multiple of the MAS rate and a variety of rotary resonance phenomena are observed depending on the internal spin interactions present. This investigation should aid in the application of spin-locking techniques to multiple-quantum NMR of quadrupolar nuclei and of cross-polarization and homonuclear dipolar recoupling experiments to quadrupolar nuclei such as (7)Li, (11)B, (17)O, (23)Na, and (27)Al.

Mode locking of electron spin coherences in singly charged quantum dots.

PubMed

Greilich, A; Yakovlev, D R; Shabaev, A; Efros, Al L; Yugova, I A; Oulton, R; Stavarache, V; Reuter, D; Wieck, A; Bayer, M

2006-07-21

The fast dephasing of electron spins in an ensemble of quantum dots is detrimental for applications in quantum information processing. We show here that dephasing can be overcome by using a periodic train of light pulses to synchronize the phases of the precessing spins, and we demonstrate this effect in an ensemble of singly charged (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots. This mode locking leads to constructive interference of contributions to Faraday rotation and presents potential applications based on robust quantum coherence within an ensemble of dots.

Quantum displacement receiver for M-ary phase-shift-keyed coherent states

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

Izumi, Shuro; Takeoka, Masahiro; Fujiwara, Mikio

2014-12-04

We propose quantum receivers for 3- and 4-ary phase-shift-keyed (PSK) coherent state signals to overcome the standard quantum limit (SQL). Our receiver, consisting of a displacement operation and on-off detectors with or without feedforward, provides an error probability performance beyond the SQL. We show feedforward operations can tolerate the requirement for the detector specifications.

Achieving minimum-error discrimination of an arbitrary set of laser-light pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

da Silva, Marcus P.; Guha, Saikat; Dutton, Zachary

2013-05-01

Laser light is widely used for communication and sensing applications, so the optimal discrimination of coherent states—the quantum states of light emitted by an ideal laser—has immense practical importance. Due to fundamental limits imposed by quantum mechanics, such discrimination has a finite minimum probability of error. While concrete optical circuits for the optimal discrimination between two coherent states are well known, the generalization to larger sets of coherent states has been challenging. In this paper, we show how to achieve optimal discrimination of any set of coherent states using a resource-efficient quantum computer. Our construction leverages a recent result on discriminating multicopy quantum hypotheses [Blume-Kohout, Croke, and Zwolak, arXiv:1201.6625]. As illustrative examples, we analyze the performance of discriminating a ternary alphabet and show how the quantum circuit of a receiver designed to discriminate a binary alphabet can be reused in discriminating multimode hypotheses. Finally, we show that our result can be used to achieve the quantum limit on the rate of classical information transmission on a lossy optical channel, which is known to exceed the Shannon rate of all conventional optical receivers.

Coherent optimal control of photosynthetic molecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caruso, F.; Montangero, S.; Calarco, T.; Huelga, S. F.; Plenio, M. B.

2012-04-01

We demonstrate theoretically that open-loop quantum optimal control techniques can provide efficient tools for the verification of various quantum coherent transport mechanisms in natural and artificial light-harvesting complexes under realistic experimental conditions. To assess the feasibility of possible biocontrol experiments, we introduce the main settings and derive optimally shaped and robust laser pulses that allow for the faithful preparation of specified initial states (such as localized excitation or coherent superposition, i.e., propagating and nonpropagating states) of the photosystem and probe efficiently the subsequent dynamics. With these tools, different transport pathways can be discriminated, which should facilitate the elucidation of genuine quantum dynamical features of photosystems and therefore enhance our understanding of the role that coherent processes may play in actual biological complexes.

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.

Coherent frequency bridge between visible and telecommunications band for vortex light.

PubMed

Liu, Shi-Long; Liu, Shi-Kai; Li, Yin-Hai; Shi, Shuai; Zhou, Zhi-Yuan; Shi, Bao-Sen

2017-10-02

In quantum communications, vortex photons can encode higher-dimensional quantum states and build high-dimensional communication networks (HDCNs). The interfaces that connect different wavelengths are significant in HDCNs. We construct a coherent orbital angular momentum (OAM) frequency bridge via difference frequency conversion in a nonlinear bulk crystal for HDCNs. Using a single resonant cavity, maximum quantum conversion efficiencies from visible to infrared are 36%, 15%, and 7.8% for topological charges of 0,1, and 2, respectively. The average fidelity obtained using quantum state tomography for the down-converted infrared OAM-state of topological charge 1 is 96.51%. We also prove that the OAM is conserved in this process by measuring visible and infrared interference patterns. This coherent OAM frequency-down conversion bridge represents a basis for an interface between two high-dimensional quantum systems operating with different spectra.

Observing the operational significance of discord consumption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Mile; Chrzanowski, Helen M.; Assad, Syed M.; Symul, Thomas; Modi, Kavan; Ralph, Timothy C.; Vedral, Vlatko; Lam, Ping Koy

2012-09-01

Coherent interactions that generate negligible entanglement can still exhibit unique quantum behaviour. This observation has motivated a search beyond entanglement for a complete description of all quantum correlations. Quantum discord is a promising candidate. Here, we demonstrate that under certain measurement constraints, discord between bipartite systems can be consumed to encode information that can only be accessed by coherent quantum interactions. The inability to access this information by any other means allows us to use discord to directly quantify this `quantum advantage'. We experimentally encode information within the discordant correlations of two separable Gaussian states. The amount of extra information recovered by coherent interaction is quantified and directly linked with the discord consumed during encoding. No entanglement exists at any point of this experiment. Thus we introduce and demonstrate an operational method to use discord as a physical resource.

Quantum decoherence dynamics of divacancy spins in silicon carbide

DOE PAGES

Seo, Hosung; Falk, Abram L.; Klimov, Paul V.; ...

2016-09-29

Long coherence times are key to the performance of quantum bits (qubits). Here, we experimentally and theoretically show that the Hahn-echo coherence time of electron spins associated with divacancy defects in 4H-SiC reaches 1.3 ms, one of the longest Hahn-echo coherence times of an electron spin in a naturally isotopic crystal. Using a first-principles microscopic quantum-bath model, we find that two factors determine the unusually robust coherence. First, in the presence of moderate magnetic fields (30mT and above), the 29Si and 13C paramagnetic nuclear spin baths are decoupled. In addition, because SiC is a binary crystal, homo-nuclear spin pairs aremore » both diluted and forbidden from forming strongly coupled, nearest-neighbour spin pairs. Longer neighbour distances result in fewer nuclear spin flip-flops, a less fluctuating intra-crystalline magnetic environment, and thus a longer coherence time. Lastly, our results point to polyatomic crystals as promising hosts for coherent qubits in the solid state.« less

Manipulating quantum coherence of charge states in interacting double-dot Aharonov–Bohm interferometers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Jinshuang; Wang, Shikuan; Zhou, Jiahuan; Zhang, Wei-Min; Yan, YiJing

2018-04-01

We investigate the dynamics of charge-state coherence in a degenerate double-dot Aharonov–Bohm interferometer with finite inter-dot Coulomb interactions. The quantum coherence of the charge states is found to be sensitive to the transport setup configurations, involving both the single-electron impurity channels and the Coulomb-assisted ones. We numerically demonstrate the emergence of a complete coherence between the two charge states, with the relative phase being continuously controllable through the magnetic flux. Interestingly, a fully coherent charge qubit arises at the double-dots electron pair tunneling resonance condition, where the chemical potential of one electrode is tuned at the center between a single-electron impurity channel and the related Coulomb-assisted channel. This pure quantum state of charge qubit could be experimentally realized at the current–voltage characteristic turnover position, where differential conductance sign changes. We further elaborate the underlying mechanism for both the real-time and the stationary charge-states coherence in the double-dot systems of study.

Quantum decoherence dynamics of divacancy spins in silicon carbide.

PubMed

Seo, Hosung; Falk, Abram L; Klimov, Paul V; Miao, Kevin C; Galli, Giulia; Awschalom, David D

2016-09-29

Long coherence times are key to the performance of quantum bits (qubits). Here, we experimentally and theoretically show that the Hahn-echo coherence time of electron spins associated with divacancy defects in 4H-SiC reaches 1.3 ms, one of the longest Hahn-echo coherence times of an electron spin in a naturally isotopic crystal. Using a first-principles microscopic quantum-bath model, we find that two factors determine the unusually robust coherence. First, in the presence of moderate magnetic fields (30 mT and above), the 29 Si and 13 C paramagnetic nuclear spin baths are decoupled. In addition, because SiC is a binary crystal, homo-nuclear spin pairs are both diluted and forbidden from forming strongly coupled, nearest-neighbour spin pairs. Longer neighbour distances result in fewer nuclear spin flip-flops, a less fluctuating intra-crystalline magnetic environment, and thus a longer coherence time. Our results point to polyatomic crystals as promising hosts for coherent qubits in the solid state.

A Quantum Field Approach for Advancing Optical Coherence Tomography Part I: First Order Correlations, Single Photon Interference, and Quantum Noise.

PubMed

Brezinski, M E

2018-01-01

Optical coherence tomography has become an important imaging technology in cardiology and ophthalmology, with other applications under investigations. Major advances in optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging are likely to occur through a quantum field approach to the technology. In this paper, which is the first part in a series on the topic, the quantum basis of OCT first order correlations is expressed in terms of full field quantization. Specifically first order correlations are treated as the linear sum of single photon interferences along indistinguishable paths. Photons and the electromagnetic (EM) field are described in terms of quantum harmonic oscillators. While the author feels the study of quantum second order correlations will lead to greater paradigm shifts in the field, addressed in part II, advances from the study of quantum first order correlations are given. In particular, ranging errors are discussed (with remedies) from vacuum fluctuations through the detector port, photon counting errors, and position probability amplitude uncertainty. In addition, the principles of quantum field theory and first order correlations are needed for studying second order correlations in part II.

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).

Steady bipartite coherence induced by non-equilibrium environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huangfu, Yong; Jing, Jun

2018-01-01

We study the steady state of two coupled two-level atoms interacting with a non-equilibrium environment that consists of two heat baths at different temperatures. Specifically, we analyze four cases with respect to the configuration about the interactions between atoms and heat baths. Using secular approximation, the conventional master equation usually neglects steady-state coherence, even when the system is coupled with a non-equilibrium environment. When employing the master equation with no secular approximation, we find that the system coherence in our model, denoted by the off-diagonal terms in the reduced density matrix spanned by the eigenvectors of the system Hamiltonian, would survive after a long-time decoherence evolution. The absolute value of residual coherence in the system relies on different configurations of interaction channels between the system and the heat baths. We find that a large steady quantum coherence term can be achieved when the two atoms are resonant. The absolute value of quantum coherence decreases in the presence of additional atom-bath interaction channels. Our work sheds new light on the mechanism of steady-state coherence in microscopic quantum systems in non-equilibrium environments.

Operational Resource Theory of Coherence.

PubMed

Winter, Andreas; Yang, Dong

2016-03-25

We establish an operational theory of coherence (or of superposition) in quantum systems, by focusing on the optimal rate of performance of certain tasks. Namely, we introduce the two basic concepts-"coherence distillation" and "coherence cost"-in the processing quantum states under so-called incoherent operations [Baumgratz, Cramer, and Plenio, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 140401 (2014)]. We, then, show that, in the asymptotic limit of many copies of a state, both are given by simple single-letter formulas: the distillable coherence is given by the relative entropy of coherence (in other words, we give the relative entropy of coherence its operational interpretation), and the coherence cost by the coherence of formation, which is an optimization over convex decompositions of the state. An immediate corollary is that there exists no bound coherent state in the sense that one would need to consume coherence to create the state, but no coherence could be distilled from it. Further, we demonstrate that the coherence theory is generically an irreversible theory by a simple criterion that completely characterizes all reversible states.

Intrinsic coherence time of trions in monolayer MoSe2 measured via two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Titze, Michael; Li, Bo; Zhang, Xiang; Ajayan, Pulickel M.; Li, Hebin

2018-05-01

Quantum coherence and its dynamics in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are essential information to fully control valley pseudospin for valleytronics applications. Experimental understanding of coherence dephasing dynamics has been limited for excitons and largely unexplored for trions in monolayer TMDs. Here we use optical two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy to measure the trion coherence dephasing time in monolayer MoSe2 by analyzing the homogeneous linewidth. An intrinsic coherence time of 182 fs is extrapolated from the excitation density and temperature dependence measurement. The results show that trion-trion and trion-phonon interactions strongly affect the coherence dephasing time, while the intrinsic coherence time at zero excitation and zero temperature is primarily limited by the pure dephasing due to defect states. Our experiment also confirms optical two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy as a reliable technique for studying valley quantum dynamics in two-dimensional layered materials.

Generating the local oscillator "locally" in continuous-variable quantum key distribution based on coherent detection

DOE PAGES

Qi, Bing; Lougovski, Pavel; Pooser, Raphael C.; ...

2015-10-21

Continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) protocols based on coherent detection have been studied extensively in both theory and experiment. In all the existing implementations of CV-QKD, both the quantum signal and the local oscillator (LO) are generated from the same laser and propagate through the insecure quantum channel. This arrangement may open security loopholes and limit the potential applications of CV-QKD. In our paper, we propose and demonstrate a pilot-aided feedforward data recovery scheme that enables reliable coherent detection using a “locally” generated LO. Using two independent commercial laser sources and a spool of 25-km optical fiber, we construct amore » coherent communication system. The variance of the phase noise introduced by the proposed scheme is measured to be 0.04 (rad 2), which is small enough to enable secure key distribution. This technology opens the door for other quantum communication protocols, such as the recently proposed measurement-device-independent CV-QKD, where independent light sources are employed by different users.« less

Continuous-variable quantum key distribution with a leakage from state preparation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Derkach, Ivan; Usenko, Vladyslav C.; Filip, Radim

2017-12-01

We address side-channel leakage in a trusted preparation station of continuous-variable quantum key distribution with coherent and squeezed states. We consider two different scenarios: multimode Gaussian modulation, directly accessible to an eavesdropper, or side-channel loss of the signal states prior to the modulation stage. We show the negative impact of excessive modulation on both the coherent- and squeezed-state protocols. The impact is more pronounced for squeezed-state protocols and may require optimization of squeezing in the case of noisy quantum channels. Further, we demonstrate that the coherent-state protocol is immune to side-channel signal state leakage prior to modulation, while the squeezed-state protocol is vulnerable to such attacks, becoming more sensitive to the noise in the channel. In the general case of noisy quantum channels the signal squeezing can be optimized to provide best performance of the protocol in the presence of side-channel leakage prior to modulation. Our results demonstrate that leakage from the trusted source in continuous-variable quantum key distribution should not be underestimated and squeezing optimization is needed to overcome coherent state protocols.

Test One to Test Many: A Unified Approach to Quantum Benchmarks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Ge; Chiribella, Giulio

2018-04-01

Quantum benchmarks are routinely used to validate the experimental demonstration of quantum information protocols. Many relevant protocols, however, involve an infinite set of input states, of which only a finite subset can be used to test the quality of the implementation. This is a problem, because the benchmark for the finitely many states used in the test can be higher than the original benchmark calculated for infinitely many states. This situation arises in the teleportation and storage of coherent states, for which the benchmark of 50% fidelity is commonly used in experiments, although finite sets of coherent states normally lead to higher benchmarks. Here, we show that the average fidelity over all coherent states can be indirectly probed with a single setup, requiring only two-mode squeezing, a 50-50 beam splitter, and homodyne detection. Our setup enables a rigorous experimental validation of quantum teleportation, storage, amplification, attenuation, and purification of noisy coherent states. More generally, we prove that every quantum benchmark can be tested by preparing a single entangled state and measuring a single observable.

Probing coherence aspects of adiabatic quantum computation and control.

PubMed

Goswami, Debabrata

2007-09-28

Quantum interference between multiple excitation pathways can be used to cancel the couplings to the unwanted, nonradiative channels resulting in robustly controlling decoherence through adiabatic coherent control approaches. We propose a useful quantification of the two-level character in a multilevel system by considering the evolution of the coherent character in the quantum system as represented by the off-diagonal density matrix elements, which switches from real to imaginary as the excitation process changes from being resonant to completely adiabatic. Such counterintuitive results can be explained in terms of continuous population exchange in comparison to no population exchange under the adiabatic condition.

Nonlocal Nuclear Spin Quieting in Quantum Dot Molecules: Optically Induced Extended Two-Electron Spin Coherence Time.

PubMed

Chow, Colin M; Ross, Aaron M; Kim, Danny; Gammon, Daniel; Bracker, Allan S; Sham, L J; Steel, Duncan G

2016-08-12

We demonstrate the extension of coherence between all four two-electron spin ground states of an InAs quantum dot molecule (QDM) via nonlocal suppression of nuclear spin fluctuations in two vertically stacked quantum dots (QDs), while optically addressing only the top QD transitions. Long coherence times are revealed through dark-state spectroscopy as resulting from nuclear spin locking mediated by the exchange interaction between the QDs. Line shape analysis provides the first measurement of the quieting of the Overhauser field distribution correlating with reduced nuclear spin fluctuations.

Nonlocal Nuclear Spin Quieting in Quantum Dot Molecules: Optically Induced Extended Two-Electron Spin Coherence Time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chow, Colin M.; Ross, Aaron M.; Kim, Danny; Gammon, Daniel; Bracker, Allan S.; Sham, L. J.; Steel, Duncan G.

2016-08-01

We demonstrate the extension of coherence between all four two-electron spin ground states of an InAs quantum dot molecule (QDM) via nonlocal suppression of nuclear spin fluctuations in two vertically stacked quantum dots (QDs), while optically addressing only the top QD transitions. Long coherence times are revealed through dark-state spectroscopy as resulting from nuclear spin locking mediated by the exchange interaction between the QDs. Line shape analysis provides the first measurement of the quieting of the Overhauser field distribution correlating with reduced nuclear spin fluctuations.

Entanglement between collective fields via atomic coherence effects

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

Zhang Xiu; Department of Physics, Xiaogan University, Xiaogan 432000; Hu Xiangming

2010-01-15

We explore the quantum entanglement between two collective fields via atomic coherence effects. For three-level atoms in V configuration driven by two applied fields on two-photon resonance, one coherent superposition of the excited states is not excited, which is the counterpart of coherent population trapping. The coherence-induced depopulation makes two cavity fields in each collection combine into a quantum-beat, i.e., equivalently, the difference mode of the two components decouples from the driven atoms. The two sum modes, when they are arranged in the four-wave mixinglike interactions, can be prepared in Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entangled state. Correspondingly, any two individual fields from differentmore » collective modes are entangled with each other. Furthermore, the effects of thermal reservoir and laser linewidths are discussed, and a generalization is given to the case in which each quantum beat involves more than two modes.« less

Effects of Initial Correlation and Quantum Coherence on the Energy Transfer, Purity and Entanglement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, Xiangjia; Chen, Longxi

2018-04-01

We investigate the influences of the initial correlation and quantum coherence on a bipartite dissipative system which is modeled by two two-level quantum emitters driven by an external laser field. It is shown that the initial correlation can enhance or suppress the dynamical evolution of the energy transfer quantified by the excited-state population and the information flow between the two emitters characterized by the purity. We also present the degree of the influence of the initial correlation that is determined by the quantum coherence induced by a relative phase. By introducing Bloch sphere, we illustrate the relation between the energy transfer and the purity. In addition, a scheme for generating maximally entangled steady state is proposed.

Keeping time: could quantum beating in microtubules be the basis for the neural synchrony related to consciousness?

PubMed

Craddock, Travis J A; Priel, Avner; Tuszynski, Jack A

2014-06-01

This paper discusses the possibility of quantum coherent oscillations playing a role in neuronal signaling. Consciousness correlates strongly with coherent neural oscillations, however the mechanisms by which neurons synchronize are not fully elucidated. Recent experimental evidence of quantum beats in light-harvesting complexes of plants (LHCII) and bacteria provided a stimulus for seeking similar effects in important structures found in animal cells, especially in neurons. We argue that microtubules (MTs), which play critical roles in all eukaryotic cells, possess structural and functional characteristics that are consistent with quantum coherent excitations in the aromatic groups of their tryptophan residues. Furthermore we outline the consequences of these findings on neuronal processes including the emergence of consciousness.

Efficiency at maximum power of a laser quantum heat engine enhanced by noise-induced coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorfman, Konstantin E.; Xu, Dazhi; Cao, Jianshu

2018-04-01

Quantum coherence has been demonstrated in various systems including organic solar cells and solid state devices. In this article, we report the lower and upper bounds for the performance of quantum heat engines determined by the efficiency at maximum power. Our prediction based on the canonical three-level Scovil and Schulz-Dubois maser model strongly depends on the ratio of system-bath couplings for the hot and cold baths and recovers the theoretical bounds established previously for the Carnot engine. Further, introducing a fourth level to the maser model can enhance the maximal power and its efficiency, thus demonstrating the importance of quantum coherence in the thermodynamics and operation of the heat engines beyond the classical limit.

Coherent Ising machines—optical neural networks operating at the quantum limit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Yoshihisa; Aihara, Kazuyuki; Leleu, Timothee; Kawarabayashi, Ken-ichi; Kako, Satoshi; Fejer, Martin; Inoue, Kyo; Takesue, Hiroki

2017-12-01

In this article, we will introduce the basic concept and the quantum feature of a novel computing system, coherent Ising machines, and describe their theoretical and experimental performance. We start with the discussion how to construct such physical devices as the quantum analog of classical neuron and synapse, and end with the performance comparison against various classical neural networks implemented in CPU and supercomputers.

On-chip quantum tomography of mechanical nanoscale oscillators with guided Rydberg atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanz-Mora, A.; Wüster, S.; Rost, J.-M.

2017-07-01

Nanomechanical oscillators as well as Rydberg-atomic waveguides hosted on microfabricated chip surfaces hold promise to become pillars of future quantum technologies. In a hybrid platform with both, we show that beams of Rydberg atoms in waveguides can quantum coherently interrogate and manipulate nanomechanical elements, allowing full quantum state tomography. Central to the tomography are quantum nondemolition measurements using the Rydberg atoms as probes. Quantum coherent displacement of the oscillator is also made possible by driving the atoms with external fields while they interact with the oscillator. We numerically demonstrate the feasibility of this fully integrated on-chip control and read-out suite for quantum nanomechanics, taking into account noise and error sources.

Understanding photon sideband statistics and correlation for determining phonon coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, Ding; Yin, Xiaobo; Li, Baowen

2018-01-01

Generating and detecting coherent high-frequency heat-carrying phonons have been topics of great interest in recent years. Although there have been successful attempts in generating and observing coherent phonons, rigorous techniques to characterize and detect phonon coherence in a crystalline material have been lagging compared to what has been achieved for photons. One main challenge is a lack of detailed understanding of how detection signals for phonons can be related to coherence. The quantum theory of photoelectric detection has greatly advanced the ability to characterize photon coherence in the past century, and a similar theory for phonon detection is necessary. Here, we reexamine the optical sideband fluorescence technique that has been used to detect high-frequency phonons in materials with optically active defects. We propose a quantum theory of phonon detection using the sideband technique and found that there are distinct differences in sideband counting statistics between thermal and coherent phonons. We further propose a second-order correlation function unique to sideband signals that allows for a rigorous distinction between thermal and coherent phonons. Our theory is relevant to a correlation measurement with nontrivial response functions at the quantum level and can potentially bridge the gap of experimentally determining phonon coherence to be on par with that of photons.

Terahertz-bandwidth coherence measurements of a quantum dash laser in passive and active mode-locking operation.

PubMed

Martin, Eamonn; Watts, Regan; Bramerie, Laurent; Shen, Alexandre; Gariah, Harry; Blache, Fabrice; Lelarge, Francois; Barry, Liam

2012-12-01

This research carries out coherence measurements of a 42.7 GHz quantum dash (QDash) semiconductor laser when passively, electrically, and optically mode-locked. Coherence of the spectral lines from the mode-locked laser is determined by examining the radio frequency beat-tone linewidth as the mode spacing is increased up to 1.1 THz. Electric-field measurements of the QDash laser are also presented, from which a comparison between experimental results and accepted theory for coherence in passively mode-locked lasers has been performed.

Quantum-Fluctuation-Initiated Coherence in Multioctave Raman Optical Frequency Combs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Y. Y.; Wu, Chunbai; Couny, F.; Raymer, M. G.; Benabid, F.

2010-09-01

We show experimentally and theoretically that the spectral components of a multioctave frequency comb spontaneously created by stimulated Raman scattering in a hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber exhibit strong self-coherence and mutual coherence within each 12 ns driving laser pulse. This coherence arises in spite of the field’s initiation being from quantum zero-point fluctuations, which causes each spectral component to show large phase and energy fluctuations. This points to the possibility of an optical frequency comb with nonclassical correlations between all comb lines.

Multiconfigurational quantum propagation with trajectory-guided generalized coherent states

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

Grigolo, Adriano, E-mail: agrigolo@ifi.unicamp.br; Aguiar, Marcus A. M. de, E-mail: aguiar@ifi.unicamp.br; Viscondi, Thiago F., E-mail: viscondi@if.usp.br

2016-03-07

A generalized version of the coupled coherent states method for coherent states of arbitrary Lie groups is developed. In contrast to the original formulation, which is restricted to frozen-Gaussian basis sets, the extended method is suitable for propagating quantum states of systems featuring diversified physical properties, such as spin degrees of freedom or particle indistinguishability. The approach is illustrated with simple models for interacting bosons trapped in double- and triple-well potentials, most adequately described in terms of SU(2) and SU(3) bosonic coherent states, respectively.

Coherent states for the quantum complete rigid rotor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fontanari, Daniele; Sadovskií, Dmitrií A.

2018-07-01

Motivated by the possibility to describe orientations of quantum triaxial rigid rotors, such as molecules, with respect to both internal (body-fixed) and external (laboratory) frames, we go through the theory of coherent states and design the appropriate family of coherent states on T∗ SO(3) , the classical phase space of the freely rotating rigid body (the Euler top). We pay particular attention to the resolution of identity property in order to establish the explicit relation between the parameters of the coherent states and classical phase-space variables, actions and angles.

Improving the efficiency of hierarchical equations of motion approach and application to coherent dynamics in Aharonov–Bohm interferometers

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

Hou, Dong; Xu, RuiXue; Zheng, Xiao, E-mail: xz58@ustc.edu.cn

2015-03-14

Several recent advancements for the hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) approach are reported. First, we propose an a priori estimate for the optimal number of basis functions for the reservoir memory decomposition. Second, we make use of the sparsity of auxiliary density operators (ADOs) and propose two ansatzs to screen out all the intrinsic zero ADO elements. Third, we propose a new truncation scheme by utilizing the time derivatives of higher-tier ADOs. These novel techniques greatly reduce the memory cost of the HEOM approach, and thus enhance its efficiency and applicability. The improved HEOM approach is applied to simulate themore » coherent dynamics of Aharonov–Bohm double quantum dot interferometers. Quantitatively accurate dynamics is obtained for both noninteracting and interacting quantum dots. The crucial role of the quantum phase for the magnitude of quantum coherence and quantum entanglement is revealed.« less

Coherent Dynamics of a Hybrid Quantum Spin-Mechanical Oscillator System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Kenneth William, III

A fully functional quantum computer must contain at least two important components: a quantum memory for storing and manipulating quantum information and a quantum data bus to securely transfer information between quantum memories. Typically, a quantum memory is composed of a matter system, such as an atom or an electron spin, due to their prolonged quantum coherence. Alternatively, a quantum data bus is typically composed of some propagating degree of freedom, such as a photon, which can retain quantum information over long distances. Therefore, a quantum computer will likely be a hybrid quantum device, consisting of two or more disparate quantum systems. However, there must be a reliable and controllable quantum interface between the memory and bus in order to faithfully interconvert quantum information. The current engineering challenge for quantum computers is scaling the device to large numbers of controllable quantum systems, which will ultimately depend on the choice of the quantum elements and interfaces utilized in the device. In this thesis, we present and characterize a hybrid quantum device comprised of single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers embedded in a high quality factor diamond mechanical oscillator. The electron spin of the NV center is a leading candidate for the realization of a quantum memory due to its exceptional quantum coherence times. On the other hand, mechanical oscillators are highly sensitive to a wide variety of external forces, and have the potential to serve as a long-range quantum bus between quantum systems of disparate energy scales. These two elements are interfaced through crystal strain generated by vibrations of the mechanical oscillator. Importantly, a strain interface allows for a scalable architecture, and furthermore, opens the door to integration into a larger quantum network through coupling to an optical interface. There are a few important engineering challenges associated with this device. First, there have been no previous demonstrations of a strain-mediated spin-mechanical interface and hence the system is largely uncharacterized. Second, fabricating high quality diamond mechanical oscillators is difficult due to the robust and chemically inert nature of diamond. Finally, engineering highly coherent NV centers with a coherent optical interface in nanostructured diamond remains an outstanding challenge. In this thesis, we theoretically and experimentally address each of these challenges, and show that with future improvements, this device is suitable for future quantum-enabled applications. First, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate a dynamic, strain-mediated coupling between the spin and orbital degrees of freedom of the NV center and the driven mechanical motion of a single-crystal diamond cantilever. We employ Ramsey interferometry to demonstrate coherent, mechanical driving of the NV spin evolution. Using this interferometry technique, we present the first demonstration of nanoscale strain imaging, and quantitatively characterize the previously unknown spin-strain coupling constants. Next, we use the driven motion of the cantilever to perform deterministic control of the frequency and polarization dependence of the optical transitions of the NV center. Importantly, this experiment constitutes the first demonstration of on-chip control of both the frequency and polarization state of a single photon produced by a quantum emitter. In the final experiment, we use mechanical driving to engineer a series of spin ``clock" states and demonstrate a significant increase in the spin coherence time of the NV center. We conclude this thesis with a theoretical discussion of prospective applications for this device, including generation of non-classical mechanical states and spin-spin entanglement, as well as an evaluation of the current limitations of our devices, including a possible avenues for improvement to reach the regime of strong spin-phonon coupling.

Quantum heat engine with coupled superconducting resonators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hardal, Ali Ü. C.; Aslan, Nur; Wilson, C. M.; Müstecaplıoǧlu, Özgür E.

2017-12-01

We propose a quantum heat engine composed of two superconducting transmission line resonators interacting with each other via an optomechanical-like coupling. One resonator is periodically excited by a thermal pump. The incoherently driven resonator induces coherent oscillations in the other one due to the coupling. A limit cycle, indicating finite power output, emerges in the thermodynamical phase space. The system implements an all-electrical analog of a photonic piston. Instead of mechanical motion, the power output is obtained as a coherent electrical charging in our case. We explore the differences between the quantum and classical descriptions of our system by solving the quantum master equation and classical Langevin equations. Specifically, we calculate the mean number of excitations, second-order coherence, as well as the entropy, temperature, power, and mean energy to reveal the signatures of quantum behavior in the statistical and thermodynamic properties of the system. We find evidence of a quantum enhancement in the power output of the engine at low temperatures.

Quantum heat engine with coupled superconducting resonators.

PubMed

Hardal, Ali Ü C; Aslan, Nur; Wilson, C M; Müstecaplıoğlu, Özgür E

2017-12-01

We propose a quantum heat engine composed of two superconducting transmission line resonators interacting with each other via an optomechanical-like coupling. One resonator is periodically excited by a thermal pump. The incoherently driven resonator induces coherent oscillations in the other one due to the coupling. A limit cycle, indicating finite power output, emerges in the thermodynamical phase space. The system implements an all-electrical analog of a photonic piston. Instead of mechanical motion, the power output is obtained as a coherent electrical charging in our case. We explore the differences between the quantum and classical descriptions of our system by solving the quantum master equation and classical Langevin equations. Specifically, we calculate the mean number of excitations, second-order coherence, as well as the entropy, temperature, power, and mean energy to reveal the signatures of quantum behavior in the statistical and thermodynamic properties of the system. We find evidence of a quantum enhancement in the power output of the engine at low temperatures.

Dynamics of Topological Excitations in a Model Quantum Spin Ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Chun-Jiong; Deng, Youjin; Wan, Yuan; Meng, Zi Yang

2018-04-01

We study the quantum spin dynamics of a frustrated X X Z model on a pyrochlore lattice by using large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulation and stochastic analytic continuation. In the low-temperature quantum spin ice regime, we observe signatures of coherent photon and spinon excitations in the dynamic spin structure factor. As the temperature rises to the classical spin ice regime, the photon disappears from the dynamic spin structure factor, whereas the dynamics of the spinon remain coherent in a broad temperature window. Our results provide experimentally relevant, quantitative information for the ongoing pursuit of quantum spin ice materials.

Theory of coherent quantum phase slips in Josephson junction chains with periodic spatial modulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Svetogorov, Aleksandr E.; Taguchi, Masahiko; Tokura, Yasuhiro; Basko, Denis M.; Hekking, Frank W. J.

2018-03-01

We study coherent quantum phase slips which lift the ground state degeneracy in a Josephson junction ring, pierced by a magnetic flux of the magnitude equal to half of a flux quantum. The quantum phase-slip amplitude is sensitive to the normal mode structure of superconducting phase oscillations in the ring (Mooij-Schön modes). These, in turn, are affected by spatial inhomogeneities in the ring. We analyze the case of weak periodic modulations of the system parameters and calculate the corresponding modification of the quantum phase-slip amplitude.

Postquench prethermalization in a disordered quantum fluid of light

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larré, Pierre-Élie; Delande, Dominique; Cherroret, Nicolas

2018-04-01

We study the coherence of a disordered and interacting quantum light field after propagation along a nonlinear optical fiber. Disorder is generated by a cross-phase modulation with a randomized auxiliary classical light field, while interactions are induced by self-phase modulation. When penetrating the fiber from free space, the incoming quantum light undergoes a disorder and interaction quench. By calculating the coherence function of the transmitted quantum light, we show that the decoherence induced by the quench spreads in a light-cone fashion in the nonequilibrium many-body quantum system, leaving the latter prethermalize with peculiar features originating from disorder.

Reconstruction of full high-resolution HSQC using signal split in aliased spectra.

PubMed

Foroozandeh, Mohammadali; Jeannerat, Damien

2015-11-01

Resolution enhancement is a long-sought goal in NMR spectroscopy. In conventional multidimensional NMR experiments, such as the (1) H-(13) C HSQC, the resolution in the indirect dimensions is typically 100 times lower as in 1D spectra because it is limited by the experimental time. Reducing the spectral window can significantly increase the resolution but at the cost of ambiguities in frequencies as a result of spectral aliasing. Fortunately, this information is not completely lost and can be retrieved using methods in which chemical shifts are encoded in the aliased spectra and decoded after processing to reconstruct high-resolution (1) H-(13) C HSQC spectrum with full spectral width and a resolution similar to that of 1D spectra. We applied a new reconstruction method, RHUMBA (reconstruction of high-resolution using multiplet built on aliased spectra), to spectra obtained from the differential evolution for non-ambiguous aliasing-HSQC and the new AMNA (additional modulation for non-ambiguous aliasing)-HSQC experiments. The reconstructed spectra significantly facilitate both manual and automated spectral analyses and structure elucidation based on heteronuclear 2D experiments. The resolution is enhanced by two orders of magnitudes without the usual complications due to spectral aliasing. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Engineering coherence among excited states in synthetic heterodimer systems.

PubMed

Hayes, Dugan; Griffin, Graham B; Engel, Gregory S

2013-06-21

The design principles that support persistent electronic coherence in biological light-harvesting systems are obscured by the complexity of such systems. Some electronic coherences in these systems survive for hundreds of femtoseconds at physiological temperatures, suggesting that coherent dynamics may play a role in photosynthetic energy transfer. Coherent effects may increase energy transfer efficiency relative to strictly incoherent transfer mechanisms. Simple, tractable, manipulable model systems are required in order to probe the fundamental physics underlying these persistent electronic coherences, but to date, these quantum effects have not been observed in small molecules. We have engineered a series of rigid synthetic heterodimers that can serve as such a model system and observed quantum beating signals in their two-dimensional electronic spectra consistent with the presence of persistent electronic coherences.

Quantum Fisher information on its own is not a valid measure of the coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwon, Hyukjoon; Tan, Kok Chuan; Choi, Seongjeon; Jeong, Hyunseok

2018-06-01

We show that contrary to the claim in Feng and Wei (2017), the quantum Fisher information itself is not a valid measure of the coherence based on the resource theory because it can increase via an incoherent operation.

Quantum coherence selective 2D Raman–2D electronic spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Spencer, Austin P.; Hutson, William O.; Harel, Elad

2017-01-01

Electronic and vibrational correlations report on the dynamics and structure of molecular species, yet revealing these correlations experimentally has proved extremely challenging. Here, we demonstrate a method that probes correlations between states within the vibrational and electronic manifold with quantum coherence selectivity. Specifically, we measure a fully coherent four-dimensional spectrum which simultaneously encodes vibrational–vibrational, electronic–vibrational and electronic–electronic interactions. By combining near-impulsive resonant and non-resonant excitation, the desired fifth-order signal of a complex organic molecule in solution is measured free of unwanted lower-order contamination. A critical feature of this method is electronic and vibrational frequency resolution, enabling isolation and assignment of individual quantum coherence pathways. The vibronic structure of the system is then revealed within an otherwise broad and featureless 2D electronic spectrum. This method is suited for studying elusive quantum effects in which electronic transitions strongly couple to phonons and vibrations, such as energy transfer in photosynthetic pigment–protein complexes. PMID:28281541

Coherent quantum phase slip.

PubMed

Astafiev, O V; Ioffe, L B; Kafanov, S; Pashkin, Yu A; Arutyunov, K Yu; Shahar, D; Cohen, O; Tsai, J S

2012-04-18

A hundred years after the discovery of superconductivity, one fundamental prediction of the theory, coherent quantum phase slip (CQPS), has not been observed. CQPS is a phenomenon exactly dual to the Josephson effect; whereas the latter is a coherent transfer of charges between superconducting leads, the former is a coherent transfer of vortices or fluxes across a superconducting wire. In contrast to previously reported observations of incoherent phase slip, CQPS has been only a subject of theoretical study. Its experimental demonstration is made difficult by quasiparticle dissipation due to gapless excitations in nanowires or in vortex cores. This difficulty might be overcome by using certain strongly disordered superconductors near the superconductor-insulator transition. Here we report direct observation of CQPS in a narrow segment of a superconducting loop made of strongly disordered indium oxide; the effect is made manifest through the superposition of quantum states with different numbers of flux quanta. As with the Josephson effect, our observation should lead to new applications in superconducting electronics and quantum metrology.

Control quantum evolution speed of a single dephasing qubit for arbitrary initial states via periodic dynamical decoupling pulses.

PubMed

Song, Ya-Ju; Tan, Qing-Shou; Kuang, Le-Man

2017-03-08

We investigate the possibility to control quantum evolution speed of a single dephasing qubit for arbitrary initial states by the use of periodic dynamical decoupling (PDD) pulses. It is indicated that the quantum speed limit time (QSLT) is determined by initial and final quantum coherence of the qubit, as well as the non-Markovianity of the system under consideration during the evolution when the qubit is subjected to a zero-temperature Ohmic-like dephasing reservoir. It is shown that final quantum coherence of the qubit and the non-Markovianity of the system can be modulated by PDD pulses. Our results show that for arbitrary initial states of the dephasing qubit with non-vanishing quantum coherence, PDD pulses can be used to induce potential acceleration of the quantum evolution in the short-time regime, while PDD pulses can lead to potential speedup and slow down in the long-time regime. We demonstrate that the effect of PDD on the QSLT for the Ohmic or sub-Ohmic spectrum (Markovian reservoir) is much different from that for the super-Ohmic spectrum (non-Markovian reservoir).

Complex Instruction Set Quantum Computing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanders, G. D.; Kim, K. W.; Holton, W. C.

1998-03-01

In proposed quantum computers, electromagnetic pulses are used to implement logic gates on quantum bits (qubits). Gates are unitary transformations applied to coherent qubit wavefunctions and a universal computer can be created using a minimal set of gates. By applying many elementary gates in sequence, desired quantum computations can be performed. This reduced instruction set approach to quantum computing (RISC QC) is characterized by serial application of a few basic pulse shapes and a long coherence time. However, the unitary matrix of the overall computation is ultimately a unitary matrix of the same size as any of the elementary matrices. This suggests that we might replace a sequence of reduced instructions with a single complex instruction using an optimally taylored pulse. We refer to this approach as complex instruction set quantum computing (CISC QC). One trades the requirement for long coherence times for the ability to design and generate potentially more complex pulses. We consider a model system of coupled qubits interacting through nearest neighbor coupling and show that CISC QC can reduce the time required to perform quantum computations.

Effect of autohydrolysis pretreatment on biomass structure and the resulting bio-oil from a pyrolysis process

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

Hao, Naijia; Bezerra, Tais Lacerda; Wu, Qiong

Pyrolysis is a promising method for converting biomass to biofuels. However, some of pyrolysis oil's physiochemical properties still limit its commercial applications. Here, the autohydrolysis pretreatment at 175 ± 3 °C for 40 min was conducted to improve the resulting pine pyrolysis oil’s properties as a fuel. During autohydrolysis, deacetylation and decomposition of hemicellulose was observed by ion-exchange chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Additionally, the cleavage of lignin ether bonds was clearly determined by 13C cross-polarization/magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Phosphitylation followed by 31P NMR analysis of the heavy oils gave detailed structural information ofmore » the hydroxyl groups; the results revealed that autohydrolysis pretreatment led to a reduction of carboxyl acids in the heavy oils generated at all three pyrolysis temperatures (400, 500, and 600 °C). The 31P NMR analysis also revealed that autohydrolysis pretreatment led to a reduction of condensed phenolic hydroxyl groups in the heavy oils produced at 600 °C. 1H- 13C heteronuclear single-quantum correlation (HSQC) NMR analysis showed that at a pyrolysis temperature of 600 °C, the pretreated pine produced lower methoxy group constituents. In both 31P and HSQC NMR results indicated that autohydrolysis pretreatment increased levoglucosan yields in the bio-oils.« less

Effect of autohydrolysis pretreatment on biomass structure and the resulting bio-oil from a pyrolysis process

DOE PAGES

Hao, Naijia; Bezerra, Tais Lacerda; Wu, Qiong; ...

2017-06-29

Pyrolysis is a promising method for converting biomass to biofuels. However, some of pyrolysis oil's physiochemical properties still limit its commercial applications. Here, the autohydrolysis pretreatment at 175 ± 3 °C for 40 min was conducted to improve the resulting pine pyrolysis oil’s properties as a fuel. During autohydrolysis, deacetylation and decomposition of hemicellulose was observed by ion-exchange chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Additionally, the cleavage of lignin ether bonds was clearly determined by 13C cross-polarization/magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Phosphitylation followed by 31P NMR analysis of the heavy oils gave detailed structural information ofmore » the hydroxyl groups; the results revealed that autohydrolysis pretreatment led to a reduction of carboxyl acids in the heavy oils generated at all three pyrolysis temperatures (400, 500, and 600 °C). The 31P NMR analysis also revealed that autohydrolysis pretreatment led to a reduction of condensed phenolic hydroxyl groups in the heavy oils produced at 600 °C. 1H- 13C heteronuclear single-quantum correlation (HSQC) NMR analysis showed that at a pyrolysis temperature of 600 °C, the pretreated pine produced lower methoxy group constituents. In both 31P and HSQC NMR results indicated that autohydrolysis pretreatment increased levoglucosan yields in the bio-oils.« less

Electrical control of a solid-state flying qubit.

PubMed

Yamamoto, Michihisa; Takada, Shintaro; Bäuerle, Christopher; Watanabe, Kenta; Wieck, Andreas D; Tarucha, Seigo

2012-03-18

Solid-state approaches to quantum information technology are attractive because they are scalable. The coherent transport of quantum information over large distances is a requirement for any practical quantum computer and has been demonstrated by coupling super-conducting qubits to photons. Single electrons have also been transferred between distant quantum dots in times shorter than their spin coherence time. However, until now, there have been no demonstrations of scalable 'flying qubit' architectures-systems in which it is possible to perform quantum operations on qubits while they are being coherently transferred-in solid-state systems. These architectures allow for control over qubit separation and for non-local entanglement, which makes them more amenable to integration and scaling than static qubit approaches. Here, we report the transport and manipulation of qubits over distances of 6 µm within 40 ps, in an Aharonov-Bohm ring connected to two-channel wires that have a tunable tunnel coupling between channels. The flying qubit state is defined by the presence of a travelling electron in either channel of the wire, and can be controlled without a magnetic field. Our device has shorter quantum gates (<1 µm), longer coherence lengths (∼86 µm at 70 mK) and higher operating frequencies (∼100 GHz) than other solid-state implementations of flying qubits.

An atom interferometer inside a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

PubMed Central

Xin, Mingjie; Leong, Wui Seng; Chen, Zilong; Lan, Shau-Yu

2018-01-01

Coherent interactions between electromagnetic and matter waves lie at the heart of quantum science and technology. However, the diffraction nature of light has limited the scalability of many atom-light–based quantum systems. We use the optical fields in a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber to spatially split, reflect, and recombine a coherent superposition state of free-falling 85Rb atoms to realize an inertia-sensitive atom interferometer. The interferometer operates over a diffraction-free distance, and the contrasts and phase shifts at different distances agree within one standard error. The integration of phase coherent photonic and quantum systems here shows great promise to advance the capability of atom interferometers in the field of precision measurement and quantum sensing with miniature design of apparatus and high efficiency of laser power consumption. PMID:29372180

Spin coherent states phenomena probed by quantum state tomography in Zeeman perturbed nuclear quadrupole resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teles, João; Auccaise, Ruben; Rivera-Ascona, Christian; Araujo-Ferreira, Arthur G.; Andreeta, José P.; Bonagamba, Tito J.

2018-07-01

Recently, we reported an experimental implementation of quantum information processing (QIP) by nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR). In this work, we present the first quantum state tomography (QST) experimental implementation in the NQR QIP context. Two approaches are proposed, employing coherence selection by temporal and spatial averaging. Conditions for reduction in the number of cycling steps are analyzed, which can be helpful for larger spin systems. The QST method was applied to the study of spin coherent states, where the alignment-to-orientation phenomenon and the evolution of squeezed spin states show the effect of the nonlinear quadrupole interaction intrinsic to the NQR system. The quantum operations were implemented using a single-crystal sample of KClO3 and observing ^{35}Cl nuclei, which posses spin 3/2.

Gaussian-based techniques for quantum propagation from the time-dependent variational principle: Formulation in terms of trajectories of coupled classical and quantum variables

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

Shalashilin, Dmitrii V.; Burghardt, Irene

2008-08-28

In this article, two coherent-state based methods of quantum propagation, namely, coupled coherent states (CCS) and Gaussian-based multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree (G-MCTDH), are put on the same formal footing, using a derivation from a variational principle in Lagrangian form. By this approach, oscillations of the classical-like Gaussian parameters and oscillations of the quantum amplitudes are formally treated in an identical fashion. We also suggest a new approach denoted here as coupled coherent states trajectories (CCST), which completes the family of Gaussian-based methods. Using the same formalism for all related techniques allows their systematization and a straightforward comparison of their mathematical structuremore » and cost.« less

Universal charge relaxation resistance and electrochemical capacitance suppression in an interacting coherent capacitor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Wei; Guo, Huazhong; He, Jianhong; Gao, Jie

2018-05-01

We have measured the dynamic admittance of an interacting coherent capacitor in the quantum Hall regime. Our experiments demonstrate that, in the fully coherent regime, the charge relaxation resistance is universal and independent of the transmission even in the presence of strong charge interactions. Conversely, we observe strong suppression of the electrochemical capacitance, which is related to the density of states of the charge excitations due to strong interactions. Our experiments form the building blocks for the realization of electron quantum optics experiments with strong charge interactions, and they should prove useful for quantum bits in interacting ballistic conductors.

Experimental Demonstration of Coherent Control in Quantum Chaotic Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bitter, M.; Milner, V.

2017-01-01

We experimentally demonstrate coherent control of a quantum system, whose dynamics is chaotic in the classical limit. Interaction of diatomic molecules with a periodic sequence of ultrashort laser pulses leads to the dynamical localization of the molecular angular momentum, a characteristic feature of the chaotic quantum kicked rotor. By changing the phases of the rotational states in the initially prepared coherent wave packet, we control the rotational distribution of the final localized state and its total energy. We demonstrate the anticipated sensitivity of control to the exact parameters of the kicking field, as well as its disappearance in the classical regime of excitation.

Practical limitation for continuous-variable quantum cryptography using coherent States.

PubMed

Namiki, Ryo; Hirano, Takuya

2004-03-19

In this Letter, first, we investigate the security of a continuous-variable quantum cryptographic scheme with a postselection process against individual beam splitting attack. It is shown that the scheme can be secure in the presence of the transmission loss owing to the postselection. Second, we provide a loss limit for continuous-variable quantum cryptography using coherent states taking into account excess Gaussian noise on quadrature distribution. Since the excess noise is reduced by the loss mechanism, a realistic intercept-resend attack which makes a Gaussian mixture of coherent states gives a loss limit in the presence of any excess Gaussian noise.

Identification of Hepatoprotective Constituents in Limonium tetragonum and Development of Simultaneous Analysis Method using High-performance Liquid Chromatography

PubMed Central

Lee, Jae Sun; Kim, Yun Na; Kim, Na-Hyun; Heo, Jeong-Doo; Yang, Min Hye; Rho, Jung-Rae; Jeong, Eun Ju

2017-01-01

Background: Limonium tetragonum, a naturally salt-tolerant halophyte, has been studied recently and is of much interest to researchers due to its potent antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities. Objective: In the present study, we attempted to elucidate bioactive compounds from ethyl acetate (EtOAc) soluble fraction of L. tetragonum extract. Furthermore, the simultaneous analysis method of bioactive EtOAc fraction of L. tetragonum has been developed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Materials and Methods: Thirteen compounds have been successfully isolated from EtOAc fraction of L. tetragonum, and the structures of 1–13 were elucidated by extensive one-dimensional and two-dimensional spectroscopic methods including 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, 1H-1H COSY, heteronuclear single quantum coherence, heteronuclear multiple bond correlation, and nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy. Hepatoprotection of the isolated compounds against liver fibrosis was evaluated by measuring inhibition on hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) undergoing proliferation. Results: Compounds 1–13 were identified as gallincin (1), apigenin-3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside (2), quercetin (3), quercetin-3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside (4), (−)-epigallocatechin (5), (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (6), (−)-epigallocatechin-3-(3″-O-methyl) gallate (7), myricetin-3-O-β-D-galactopyranoside (8), myricetin-3-O-(6″-O-galloyl)-β-D-galactopyranoside (9), myricetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (10), myricetin-3-O-(2″-O-galloyl)-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (11), myricetin-3-O-(3″-O-galloyl)-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (12), and myricetin-3-O-α-L-arabinopyranoside (13), respectively. All compounds except for 4, 8, and 10 are reported for the first time from this plant. Conclusion: Myricetin glycosides which possess galloyl substituent (9, 11, and 12) showed most potent inhibitory effects on the proliferation of HSCs. SUMMARY In the present study, we have successfully isolated 13 compounds from bioactive fraction of Limonium tetragonum. The structures of compounds isolated have been fully elucidated, and hepatoprotective activities of compounds against liver fibrosis were evaluated by measuring inhibition on hepatic stellate cells undergoing proliferation. Furthermore, the simultaneous analysis method of bioactive ethyl acetate fraction of L. tetragonum has been developed using HPLC. Ten compounds identified herein are reported for the first time from this plant. Abbreviations used: HSQC: Heteronuclear single quantum coherence; HMBC: Heteronuclear multiple bond correlation; NOESY: Nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy; EGCG: Epigallocatechin-3-gallate; EGC: Epigallocatechin; HSC: Hepatic stellate cell; MTT: 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2.5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide. PMID:29200710

Blue phosphorescent nitrile containing C^C* cyclometalated NHC platinum(II) complexes.

PubMed

Tronnier, Alexander; Metz, Stefan; Wagenblast, Gerhard; Muenster, Ingo; Strassner, Thomas

2014-02-28

Since C^C* cyclometalated Pt(II) complexes with N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands have been identified as potential emitter materials in organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs), very promising results regarding quantum yields, colour and stability have been presented. Herein, we report on four nitrile substituted complexes with a chelating NHC ligand (1-(4-cyanophenyl)-3-isopropyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazole or 4-(tert-butyl)-1-(4-cyanophenyl)-3-methyl-1H-imidazole) and a bidentate monoanionic auxiliary ligand (acetylacetone or dimesitoylmethane). The complexes have been fully characterized including extensive 2D NMR studies (COSY, HSQC, HMBC, NOESY, (195)Pt NMR), three of them also by solid-state structures. Photophysical measurements in amorphous PMMA films and pure emitter films at room temperature reveal the impact of the mesityl groups in the auxiliary ligand, which led to a significant increase of the quantum yield, while the decay lifetimes decreased. The electron withdrawing nitrile groups shift the emission towards blue colour coordinates.

A Quantum Field Approach for Advancing Optical Coherence Tomography Part I: First Order Correlations, Single Photon Interference, and Quantum Noise

PubMed Central

Brezinski, ME

2018-01-01

Optical coherence tomography has become an important imaging technology in cardiology and ophthalmology, with other applications under investigations. Major advances in optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging are likely to occur through a quantum field approach to the technology. In this paper, which is the first part in a series on the topic, the quantum basis of OCT first order correlations is expressed in terms of full field quantization. Specifically first order correlations are treated as the linear sum of single photon interferences along indistinguishable paths. Photons and the electromagnetic (EM) field are described in terms of quantum harmonic oscillators. While the author feels the study of quantum second order correlations will lead to greater paradigm shifts in the field, addressed in part II, advances from the study of quantum first order correlations are given. In particular, ranging errors are discussed (with remedies) from vacuum fluctuations through the detector port, photon counting errors, and position probability amplitude uncertainty. In addition, the principles of quantum field theory and first order correlations are needed for studying second order correlations in part II. PMID:29863177

Quantum acoustics with superconducting qubits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Yiwen; Kharel, Prashanta; Renninger, William H.; Burkhart, Luke D.; Frunzio, Luigi; Rakich, Peter T.; Schoelkopf, Robert J.

2017-10-01

Mechanical objects have important practical applications in the fields of quantum information and metrology as quantum memories or transducers for measuring and connecting different types of quantum systems. The field of electromechanics is in pursuit of a robust and highly coherent device that couples motion to nonlinear quantum objects such as superconducting qubits. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a high-frequency bulk acoustic wave resonator that is strongly coupled to a superconducting qubit using piezoelectric transduction with a cooperativity of 260. We measure qubit and mechanical coherence times on the order of 10 microseconds. Our device requires only simple fabrication methods and provides controllable access to a multitude of phonon modes. We demonstrate quantum control and measurement on gigahertz phonons at the single-quantum level.

Superconducting Qubits as Mechanical Quantum Engines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sachtleben, Kewin; Mazon, Kahio T.; Rego, Luis G. C.

2017-09-01

We propose the equivalence of superconducting qubits with a pistonlike mechanical quantum engine. The work reports a study on the nature of the nonequilibrium work exchanged with the quantum-nonadiabatic working medium, which is modeled as a multilevel coupled quantum well system subject to an external control parameter. The quantum dynamics is solved for arbitrary control protocols. It is shown that the work output has two components: one that depends instantaneously on the level populations and another that is due to the quantum coherences built in the system. The nonadiabatic coherent dynamics of the quantum engine gives rise to a resistance (friction) force that decreases the work output. We consider the functional equivalence of such a device and a rf-SQUID flux qubit.

Topological Quantum Buses: Coherent Quantum Information Transfer between Topological and Conventional Qubits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonderson, Parsa; Lutchyn, Roman M.

2011-04-01

We propose computing bus devices that enable quantum information to be coherently transferred between topological and conventional qubits. We describe a concrete realization of such a topological quantum bus acting between a topological qubit in a Majorana wire network and a conventional semiconductor double quantum dot qubit. Specifically, this device measures the joint (fermion) parity of these two different qubits by using the Aharonov-Casher effect in conjunction with an ancilliary superconducting flux qubit that facilitates the measurement. Such a parity measurement, together with the ability to apply Hadamard gates to the two qubits, allows one to produce states in which the topological and conventional qubits are maximally entangled and to teleport quantum states between the topological and conventional quantum systems.

Multipulse addressing of a Raman quantum memory: configurable beam splitting and efficient readout.

PubMed

Reim, K F; Nunn, J; Jin, X-M; Michelberger, P S; Champion, T F M; England, D G; Lee, K C; Kolthammer, W S; Langford, N K; Walmsley, I A

2012-06-29

Quantum memories are vital to the scalability of photonic quantum information processing (PQIP), since the storage of photons enables repeat-until-success strategies. On the other hand, the key element of all PQIP architectures is the beam splitter, which allows us to coherently couple optical modes. Here, we show how to combine these crucial functionalities by addressing a Raman quantum memory with multiple control pulses. The result is a coherent optical storage device with an extremely large time bandwidth product, that functions as an array of dynamically configurable beam splitters, and that can be read out with arbitrarily high efficiency. Networks of such devices would allow fully scalable PQIP, with applications in quantum computation, long distance quantum communications and quantum metrology.

Topological view of quantum tunneling coherent destruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernardini, Alex E.; Chinaglia, Mariana

2017-08-01

Quantum tunneling of the ground and first excited states in a quantum superposition driven by a novel analytical configuration of a double-well (DW) potential is investigated. Symmetric and asymmetric potentials are considered as to support quantum mechanical zero mode and first excited state analytical solutions. Reporting about a symmetry breaking that supports the quantum conversion of a zero-mode stable vacuum into an unstable tachyonic quantum state, two inequivalent topological scenarios are supposed to drive stable tunneling and coherent tunneling destruction respectively. A complete prospect of the Wigner function dynamics, vector field fluxes and the time dependence of stagnation points is obtained for the analytical potentials that support stable and tachyonic modes.

Ballistic pulse propagation in quantum wire waveguides: Toward localization and control of electron wave packets in space and time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hayata, K.; Tsuji, Y.; Koshiba, M.

1992-10-01

A theoretical formulation of electron pulse propagation in quantum wire structures with mesoscopic scale cross sections is presented, assuming quantum ballistic transport of electron wave packets over a certain characteristic length. As typical mesoscopic structures for realizing coherent electron transmission, two traveling-wave configurations are considered: straight quantum wire waveguides and quantum wire bend structures (quantum whispering galleries). To estimate temporal features of the pulse during propagation, the walk off, the dispersion, and the pulse coherence lengths are defined as useful characteristic lengths. Numerical results are shown for ultrashort pulse propagation through rectangular wire waveguides. Effects due to an external electric field are discussed as well.

Coherent control of diamond defects for quantum information science and quantum sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maurer, Peter

Quantum mechanics, arguably one of the greatest achievements of modern physics, has not only fundamentally changed our understanding of nature but is also taking an ever increasing role in engineering. Today, the control of quantum systems has already had a far-reaching impact on time and frequency metrology. By gaining further control over a large variety of different quantum systems, many potential applications are emerging. Those applications range from the development of quantum sensors and new quantum metrological approaches to the realization of quantum information processors and quantum networks. Unfortunately most quantum systems are very fragile objects that require tremendous experimental effort to avoid dephasing. Being able to control the interaction between a quantum system with its local environment embodies therefore an important aspect for application and hence is at the focus of this thesis. Nitrogen Vacancy (NV) color centers in diamond have recently attracted attention as a room temperature solid state spin system that expresses long coherence times. The electronic spin associated with NV centers can be efficiently manipulated, initialized and readout using microwave and optical techniques. Inspired by these extraordinary properties, much effort has been dedicated to use NV centers as a building block for scalable room temperature quantum information processing and quantum communication as well as a quantum sensing. In the first part of this thesis we demonstrate that by decoupling the spin from the local environment the coherence time of a NV quantum register can be extended by three order of magnitudes. Employing a novel dissipative mechanism in combination with dynamical decoupling, memory times exceeding one second are observed. The second part shows that, based on quantum control, NV centers in nano-diamonds provide a nanoscale temperature sensor with unprecedented accuracy enabling local temperature measurements in living biological cells. This opens the door for the engineering of nano-scaled chemical reactions to the study of temperature dependent biological processes. Finally, a novel technique is introduced that facilitates optical spin detection with nanoscale resolution based on an optical far-field technique; by combining this with a 'quantum Zeno' like effect coherent manipulation of nominally identical spins at a nanoscale is achieved.

Phase-sensitive atomic dynamics in quantum light

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balybin, S. N.; Zakharov, R. V.; Tikhonova, O. V.

2018-05-01

Interaction between a quantum electromagnetic field and a model Ry atom with possible transitions to the continuum and to the low-lying resonant state is investigated. Strong sensitivity of atomic dynamics to the phase of applied coherent and squeezed vacuum light is found. Methods to extract the quantum field phase performing the measurements on the atomic system are proposed. In the case of the few-photon coherent state high accuracy of the phase determination is demonstrated, which appears to be much higher in comparison to the usually used quantum-optical methods such as homodyne detection.

Classical analogues of two-photon quantum interference.

PubMed

Kaltenbaek, R; Lavoie, J; Resch, K J

2009-06-19

Chirped-pulse interferometry (CPI) captures the metrological advantages of quantum Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interferometry in a completely classical system. Modified HOM interferometers are the basis for a number of seminal quantum-interference effects. Here, the corresponding modifications to CPI allow for the first observation of classical analogues to the HOM peak and quantum beating. They also allow a new classical technique for generating phase super-resolution exhibiting a coherence length dramatically longer than that of the laser light, analogous to increased two-photon coherence lengths in entangled states.

Optical manipulation of valley pseudospin

DOE PAGES

Ye, Ziliang; Sun, Dezheng; Heinz, Tony F.

2016-09-19

The coherent manipulation of spin and pseudospin underlies existing and emerging quantum technologies, including quantum communication and quantum computation. Valley polarization, associated with the occupancy of degenerate, but quantum mechanically distinct valleys in momentum space, closely resembles spin polarization and has been proposed as a pseudospin carrier for the future quantum electronics. Valley exciton polarization has been created in the transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers using excitation by circularly polarized light and has been detected both optically and electrically. In addition, the existence of coherence in the valley pseudospin has been identified experimentally. The manipulation of such valley coherence has, however,more » remained out of reach. In this paper, we demonstrate all-optical control of the valley coherence by means of the pseudomagnetic field associated with the optical Stark effect. Using below-bandgap circularly polarized light, we rotate the valley exciton pseudospin in monolayer WSe 2 on the femtosecond timescale. Both the direction and speed of the rotation can be manipulated optically by tuning the dynamic phase of excitons in opposite valleys. Finally, this study unveils the possibility of generation, manipulation, and detection of the valley pseudospin by coupling to photons.« less

New Diamond Color Center for Quantum Communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Ding; Rose, Brendon; Tyryshkin, Alexei; Sangtawesin, Sorawis; Srinivasan, Srikanth; Twitchen, Daniel; Markham, Matthew; Edmonds, Andrew; Gali, Adam; Stacey, Alastair; Wang, Wuyi; D'Haenens-Johansson, Ulrika; Zaitsev, Alexandre; Lyon, Stephen; de Leon, Nathalie

2017-04-01

Color centers in diamond are attractive for quantum communication applications because of their long electron spin coherence times and efficient optical transitions. Previous demonstrations of color centers as solid-state spin qubits were primarily focused on centers that exhibit either long coherence times or highly efficient optical interfaces. Recently, we developed a method to stabilize the neutral charge state of silicon-vacancy center in diamond (SiV0) with high conversion efficiency. We observe spin relaxation times exceeding 1 minute and spin coherence times of 1 ms for SiV0 centers. Additionally, the SiV0 center also has > 90 % of its emission into its zero-phonon line and a narrow inhomogeneous optical linewidth. The combination of a long spin coherence time and efficient optical interface make the SiV0 center a promising candidate for applications in long distance quantum communication.

Characterization of collective Gaussian attacks and security of coherent-state quantum cryptography.

PubMed

Pirandola, Stefano; Braunstein, Samuel L; Lloyd, Seth

2008-11-14

We provide a simple description of the most general collective Gaussian attack in continuous-variable quantum cryptography. In the scenario of such general attacks, we analyze the asymptotic secret-key rates which are achievable with coherent states, joint measurements of the quadratures and one-way classical communication.

A Study on the Applications of Quantum Optical Coherence to Nano-Optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hakami, Jabir Wali

Optically controlled dipole-dipole interaction at submicrometers and subwavelength scales leads to many interesting phenomenon and remarkable potential applications in quantum optics, condensed matter physics, and today's micro-devices. In this dissertation, we study the applications of quantum optical coherence to nano-optics in the following systems and aspects. On the one hand, chiral metamaterials has been previously reported as excellent candidates to realize both attractive and repulsive Casimir forces, where the existence of a repulsive Casimir force depends upon the strength of the chirality. On the other hand, nanoscale integration of metal nanoparticles and semiconductors is particularly interesting because the strengths of both materials are combined in such a hybrid system. In the first part of this work, we proposed a technical scheme to coherently control of the Casimir interaction energy with two identical chirality mediums. We took explicit caution regarding the requirements of passivity and causal response of the materials, since these requirements are essential for the application of the Lifshitz formula. The rare-earth metals' atomic species, for instance, dysprosium, is proposed as an applicable medium for the forthcoming studies of possible experimental implementation of our technique. Secondly, we fully investigated the coherent control of the quantum optical properties of spontaneous emission spectra of a semiconductor quantum dot coupled to a metallic nanoparticle. The properties of the spontaneous emission spectra of such a system are studied in detail with and without involving the coherent field. The Rabi splitting effect in the spectrum emitted by the quantum dot under particular conditions is predicted for different sizes of the metal nanoparticles. We show that the spontaneous emission spectra of the transition coupled to surface plasmons may be further modified by adjusting the external coherent control on the adjacent transitions. In the third part, we propose a robust protocol to study the entanglement generation in a hybrid structure consisting of two quantum dots in the proximity of a metallic nanoshell. The entanglement arises impulsively due to common coupling to the plasmonic nanostructure, without demanding postselective measurement or mediating the dissipative environment. The long-lived entangled states can be created deterministically by optimizing the shell thickness as well as the ratio of the distances between the quantum dots and the surface of the shell. The loss of the system is greatly reduced even when the quantum dots are ultraclose to the shell, which signifies a slow decay rate of the coherence information and longtime entanglement preservation.

On-chip generation of high-dimensional entangled quantum states and their coherent control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kues, Michael; Reimer, Christian; Roztocki, Piotr; Cortés, Luis Romero; Sciara, Stefania; Wetzel, Benjamin; Zhang, Yanbing; Cino, Alfonso; Chu, Sai T.; Little, Brent E.; Moss, David J.; Caspani, Lucia; Azaña, José; Morandotti, Roberto

2017-06-01

Optical quantum states based on entangled photons are essential for solving questions in fundamental physics and are at the heart of quantum information science. Specifically, the realization of high-dimensional states (D-level quantum systems, that is, qudits, with D > 2) and their control are necessary for fundamental investigations of quantum mechanics, for increasing the sensitivity of quantum imaging schemes, for improving the robustness and key rate of quantum communication protocols, for enabling a richer variety of quantum simulations, and for achieving more efficient and error-tolerant quantum computation. Integrated photonics has recently become a leading platform for the compact, cost-efficient, and stable generation and processing of non-classical optical states. However, so far, integrated entangled quantum sources have been limited to qubits (D = 2). Here we demonstrate on-chip generation of entangled qudit states, where the photons are created in a coherent superposition of multiple high-purity frequency modes. In particular, we confirm the realization of a quantum system with at least one hundred dimensions, formed by two entangled qudits with D = 10. Furthermore, using state-of-the-art, yet off-the-shelf telecommunications components, we introduce a coherent manipulation platform with which to control frequency-entangled states, capable of performing deterministic high-dimensional gate operations. We validate this platform by measuring Bell inequality violations and performing quantum state tomography. Our work enables the generation and processing of high-dimensional quantum states in a single spatial mode.

On-chip generation of high-dimensional entangled quantum states and their coherent control.

PubMed

Kues, Michael; Reimer, Christian; Roztocki, Piotr; Cortés, Luis Romero; Sciara, Stefania; Wetzel, Benjamin; Zhang, Yanbing; Cino, Alfonso; Chu, Sai T; Little, Brent E; Moss, David J; Caspani, Lucia; Azaña, José; Morandotti, Roberto

2017-06-28

Optical quantum states based on entangled photons are essential for solving questions in fundamental physics and are at the heart of quantum information science. Specifically, the realization of high-dimensional states (D-level quantum systems, that is, qudits, with D > 2) and their control are necessary for fundamental investigations of quantum mechanics, for increasing the sensitivity of quantum imaging schemes, for improving the robustness and key rate of quantum communication protocols, for enabling a richer variety of quantum simulations, and for achieving more efficient and error-tolerant quantum computation. Integrated photonics has recently become a leading platform for the compact, cost-efficient, and stable generation and processing of non-classical optical states. However, so far, integrated entangled quantum sources have been limited to qubits (D = 2). Here we demonstrate on-chip generation of entangled qudit states, where the photons are created in a coherent superposition of multiple high-purity frequency modes. In particular, we confirm the realization of a quantum system with at least one hundred dimensions, formed by two entangled qudits with D = 10. Furthermore, using state-of-the-art, yet off-the-shelf telecommunications components, we introduce a coherent manipulation platform with which to control frequency-entangled states, capable of performing deterministic high-dimensional gate operations. We validate this platform by measuring Bell inequality violations and performing quantum state tomography. Our work enables the generation and processing of high-dimensional quantum states in a single spatial mode.

Quantum phases with differing computational power.

PubMed

Cui, Jian; Gu, Mile; Kwek, Leong Chuan; Santos, Marcelo França; Fan, Heng; Vedral, Vlatko

2012-05-01

The observation that concepts from quantum information has generated many alternative indicators of quantum phase transitions hints that quantum phase transitions possess operational significance with respect to the processing of quantum information. Yet, studies on whether such transitions lead to quantum phases that differ in their capacity to process information remain limited. Here we show that there exist quantum phase transitions that cause a distinct qualitative change in our ability to simulate certain quantum systems under perturbation of an external field by local operations and classical communication. In particular, we show that in certain quantum phases of the XY model, adiabatic perturbations of the external magnetic field can be simulated by local spin operations, whereas the resulting effect within other phases results in coherent non-local interactions. We discuss the potential implications to adiabatic quantum computation, where a computational advantage exists only when adiabatic perturbation results in coherent multi-body interactions.

Holonomic Quantum Control with Continuous Variable Systems.

PubMed

Albert, Victor V; Shu, Chi; Krastanov, Stefan; Shen, Chao; Liu, Ren-Bao; Yang, Zhen-Biao; Schoelkopf, Robert J; Mirrahimi, Mazyar; Devoret, Michel H; Jiang, Liang

2016-04-08

Universal computation of a quantum system consisting of superpositions of well-separated coherent states of multiple harmonic oscillators can be achieved by three families of adiabatic holonomic gates. The first gate consists of moving a coherent state around a closed path in phase space, resulting in a relative Berry phase between that state and the other states. The second gate consists of "colliding" two coherent states of the same oscillator, resulting in coherent population transfer between them. The third gate is an effective controlled-phase gate on coherent states of two different oscillators. Such gates should be realizable via reservoir engineering of systems that support tunable nonlinearities, such as trapped ions and circuit QED.

Coherence time of over a second in a telecom-compatible quantum memory storage material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rančić, Miloš; Hedges, Morgan P.; Ahlefeldt, Rose L.; Sellars, Matthew J.

2018-01-01

Quantum memories for light will be essential elements in future long-range quantum communication networks. These memories operate by reversibly mapping the quantum state of light onto the quantum transitions of a material system. For networks, the quantum coherence times of these transitions must be long compared to the network transmission times, approximately 100 ms for a global communication network. Due to a lack of a suitable storage material, a quantum memory that operates in the 1,550 nm optical fibre communication band with a storage time greater than 1 μs has not been demonstrated. Here we describe the spin dynamics of 167Er3+: Y2SiO5 in a high magnetic field and demonstrate that this material has the characteristics for a practical quantum memory in the 1,550 nm communication band. We observe a hyperfine coherence time of 1.3 s. We also demonstrate efficient spin pumping of the entire ensemble into a single hyperfine state, a requirement for broadband spin-wave storage. With an absorption of 70 dB cm-1 at 1,538 nm and Λ transitions enabling spin-wave storage, this material is the first candidate identified for an efficient, broadband quantum memory at telecommunication wavelengths.

Light storage in a cold atomic ensemble with a high optical depth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Kwang-Kyoon; Chough, Young-Tak; Kim, Yoon-Ho

2017-06-01

A quantum memory with a high storage efficiency and a long coherence time is an essential element in quantum information applications. Here, we report our recent development of an optical quantum memory with a rubidium-87 cold atom ensemble. By increasing the optical depth of the medium, we have achieved a storage efficiency of 65% and a coherence time of 51 μs for a weak laser pulse. The result of a numerical analysis based on the Maxwell-Bloch equations agrees well with the experimental results. Our result paves the way toward an efficient optical quantum memory and may find applications in photonic quantum information processing.

Accuracy of a teleported squeezed coherent-state superposition trapped into a high-Q cavity

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

Sales, J. S.; Silva, L. F. da; Almeida, N. G. de

2011-03-15

We propose a scheme to teleport a superposition of squeezed coherent states from one mode of a lossy cavity to one mode of a second lossy cavity. Based on current experimental capabilities, we present a calculation of the fidelity demonstrating that accurate quantum teleportation can be achieved for some parameters of the squeezed coherent states superposition. The signature of successful quantum teleportation is present in the negative values of the Wigner function.

Accuracy of a teleported squeezed coherent-state superposition trapped into a high-Q cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sales, J. S.; da Silva, L. F.; de Almeida, N. G.

2011-03-01

We propose a scheme to teleport a superposition of squeezed coherent states from one mode of a lossy cavity to one mode of a second lossy cavity. Based on current experimental capabilities, we present a calculation of the fidelity demonstrating that accurate quantum teleportation can be achieved for some parameters of the squeezed coherent states superposition. The signature of successful quantum teleportation is present in the negative values of the Wigner function.

Coherent control with optical pulses for deterministic spin-photon entanglement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Truex, Katherine; Webster, L. A.; Duan, L.-M.; Sham, L. J.; Steel, D. G.

2013-11-01

We present a procedure for the optical coherent control of quantum bits within a quantum dot spin-exciton system, as a preliminary step to implementing a proposal by Yao, Liu, and Sham [Phys. Rev. Lett.PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.95.030504 95, 030504 (2005)] for deterministic spin-photon entanglement. The experiment proposed here utilizes a series of picosecond optical pulses from a single laser to coherently control a single self-assembled quantum dot in a magnetic field, creating the precursor state in 25 ps with a predicted fidelity of 0.991. If allowed to decay in an appropriate cavity, the ideal precursor superposition state would create maximum spin-photon entanglement. Numerical simulations using values typical of InAs quantum dots give a predicted entropy of entanglement of 0.929, largely limited by radiative decay and electron spin flips.

Complete quantum control of a single quantum dot spin using ultrafast optical pulses.

PubMed

Press, David; Ladd, Thaddeus D; Zhang, Bingyang; Yamamoto, Yoshihisa

2008-11-13

A basic requirement for quantum information processing systems is the ability to completely control the state of a single qubit. For qubits based on electron spin, a universal single-qubit gate is realized by a rotation of the spin by any angle about an arbitrary axis. Driven, coherent Rabi oscillations between two spin states can be used to demonstrate control of the rotation angle. Ramsey interference, produced by two coherent spin rotations separated by a variable time delay, demonstrates control over the axis of rotation. Full quantum control of an electron spin in a quantum dot has previously been demonstrated using resonant radio-frequency pulses that require many spin precession periods. However, optical manipulation of the spin allows quantum control on a picosecond or femtosecond timescale, permitting an arbitrary rotation to be completed within one spin precession period. Recent work in optical single-spin control has demonstrated the initialization of a spin state in a quantum dot, as well as the ultrafast manipulation of coherence in a largely unpolarized single-spin state. Here we demonstrate complete coherent control over an initialized electron spin state in a quantum dot using picosecond optical pulses. First we vary the intensity of a single optical pulse to observe over six Rabi oscillations between the two spin states; then we apply two sequential pulses to observe high-contrast Ramsey interference. Such a two-pulse sequence realizes an arbitrary single-qubit gate completed on a picosecond timescale. Along with the spin initialization and final projective measurement of the spin state, these results demonstrate a complete set of all-optical single-qubit operations.

Analysis of the secrecy of the running key in quantum encryption channels using coherent states of light

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nikulin, Vladimir V.; Hughes, David H.; Malowicki, John; Bedi, Vijit

2015-05-01

Free-space optical communication channels offer secure links with low probability of interception and detection. Despite their point-to-point topology, additional security features may be required in privacy-critical applications. Encryption can be achieved at the physical layer by using quantized values of photons, which makes exploitation of such quantum communication links extremely difficult. One example of such technology is keyed communication in quantum noise, a novel quantum modulation protocol that offers ultra-secure communication with competitive performance characteristics. Its utilization relies on specific coherent measurements to decrypt the signal. The process of measurements is complicated by the inherent and irreducible quantum noise of coherent states. This problem is different from traditional laser communication with coherent detection; therefore continuous efforts are being made to improve the measurement techniques. Quantum-based encryption systems that use the phase of the signal as the information carrier impose aggressive requirements on the accuracy of the measurements when an unauthorized party attempts intercepting the data stream. Therefore, analysis of the secrecy of the data becomes extremely important. In this paper, we present the results of a study that had a goal of assessment of potential vulnerability of the running key. Basic results of the laboratory measurements are combined with simulation studies and statistical analysis that can be used for both conceptual improvement of the encryption approach and for quantitative comparison of secrecy of different quantum communication protocols.

Efficient quantum computing using coherent photon conversion.

PubMed

Langford, N K; Ramelow, S; Prevedel, R; Munro, W J; Milburn, G J; Zeilinger, A

2011-10-12

Single photons are excellent quantum information carriers: they were used in the earliest demonstrations of entanglement and in the production of the highest-quality entanglement reported so far. However, current schemes for preparing, processing and measuring them are inefficient. For example, down-conversion provides heralded, but randomly timed, single photons, and linear optics gates are inherently probabilistic. Here we introduce a deterministic process--coherent photon conversion (CPC)--that provides a new way to generate and process complex, multiquanta states for photonic quantum information applications. The technique uses classically pumped nonlinearities to induce coherent oscillations between orthogonal states of multiple quantum excitations. One example of CPC, based on a pumped four-wave-mixing interaction, is shown to yield a single, versatile process that provides a full set of photonic quantum processing tools. This set satisfies the DiVincenzo criteria for a scalable quantum computing architecture, including deterministic multiqubit entanglement gates (based on a novel form of photon-photon interaction), high-quality heralded single- and multiphoton states free from higher-order imperfections, and robust, high-efficiency detection. It can also be used to produce heralded multiphoton entanglement, create optically switchable quantum circuits and implement an improved form of down-conversion with reduced higher-order effects. Such tools are valuable building blocks for many quantum-enabled technologies. Finally, using photonic crystal fibres we experimentally demonstrate quantum correlations arising from a four-colour nonlinear process suitable for CPC and use these measurements to study the feasibility of reaching the deterministic regime with current technology. Our scheme, which is based on interacting bosonic fields, is not restricted to optical systems but could also be implemented in optomechanical, electromechanical and superconducting systems with extremely strong intrinsic nonlinearities. Furthermore, exploiting higher-order nonlinearities with multiple pump fields yields a mechanism for multiparty mediation of the complex, coherent dynamics.

Frequency-Comb Based Double-Quantum Two-Dimensional Spectrum Identifies Collective Hyperfine Resonances in Atomic Vapor Induced by Dipole-Dipole Interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lomsadze, Bachana; Cundiff, Steven T.

2018-06-01

Frequency-comb based multidimensional coherent spectroscopy is a novel optical method that enables high-resolution measurement in a short acquisition time. The method's resolution makes multidimensional coherent spectroscopy relevant for atomic systems that have narrow resonances. We use double-quantum multidimensional coherent spectroscopy to reveal collective hyperfine resonances in rubidium vapor at 100 °C induced by dipole-dipole interactions. We observe tilted and elongated line shapes in the double-quantum 2D spectra, which have never been reported for Doppler-broadened systems. The elongated line shapes suggest that the signal is predominately from the interacting atoms that have a near zero relative velocity.

Qubit Architecture with High Coherence and Fast Tunable Coupling.

PubMed

Chen, Yu; Neill, C; Roushan, P; Leung, N; Fang, M; Barends, R; Kelly, J; Campbell, B; Chen, Z; Chiaro, B; Dunsworth, A; Jeffrey, E; Megrant, A; Mutus, J Y; O'Malley, P J J; Quintana, C M; Sank, D; Vainsencher, A; Wenner, J; White, T C; Geller, Michael R; Cleland, A N; Martinis, John M

2014-11-28

We introduce a superconducting qubit architecture that combines high-coherence qubits and tunable qubit-qubit coupling. With the ability to set the coupling to zero, we demonstrate that this architecture is protected from the frequency crowding problems that arise from fixed coupling. More importantly, the coupling can be tuned dynamically with nanosecond resolution, making this architecture a versatile platform with applications ranging from quantum logic gates to quantum simulation. We illustrate the advantages of dynamical coupling by implementing a novel adiabatic controlled-z gate, with a speed approaching that of single-qubit gates. Integrating coherence and scalable control, the introduced qubit architecture provides a promising path towards large-scale quantum computation and simulation.

TOPICAL REVIEW: Quantum information storage using tunable flux qubits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steffen, Matthias; Brito, Frederico; DiVincenzo, David; Farinelli, Matthew; Keefe, George; Ketchen, Mark; Kumar, Shwetank; Milliken, Frank; Rothwell, Mary Beth; Rozen, Jim; Koch, Roger H.

2010-02-01

We present details and results for a superconducting quantum bit (qubit) design in which a tunable flux qubit is coupled strongly to a transmission line. Quantum information storage in the transmission line is demonstrated with a dephasing time of T2~2.5 µs. However, energy lifetimes of the qubit are found to be short (~10 ns) and not consistent with predictions. Several design and material changes do not affect qubit coherence times. In order to determine the cause of these short coherence times, we fabricated standard flux qubits based on a design which was previously successfully used by others. Initial results show significantly improved coherence times, possibly implicating losses associated with the large size of our qubit.

Topological quantum buses: coherent quantum information transfer between topological and conventional qubits.

PubMed

Bonderson, Parsa; Lutchyn, Roman M

2011-04-01

We propose computing bus devices that enable quantum information to be coherently transferred between topological and conventional qubits. We describe a concrete realization of such a topological quantum bus acting between a topological qubit in a Majorana wire network and a conventional semiconductor double quantum dot qubit. Specifically, this device measures the joint (fermion) parity of these two different qubits by using the Aharonov-Casher effect in conjunction with an ancilliary superconducting flux qubit that facilitates the measurement. Such a parity measurement, together with the ability to apply Hadamard gates to the two qubits, allows one to produce states in which the topological and conventional qubits are maximally entangled and to teleport quantum states between the topological and conventional quantum systems. © 2011 American Physical Society

A Perron-Frobenius type of theorem for quantum operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lagro, Matthew

Quantum random walks are a generalization of classical Markovian random walks to a quantum mechanical or quantum computing setting. Quantum walks have promising applications but are complicated by quantum decoherence. We prove that the long-time limiting behavior of the class of quantum operations which are the convex combination of norm one operators is governed by the eigenvectors with norm one eigenvalues which are shared by the operators. This class includes all operations formed by a coherent operation with positive probability of orthogonal measurement at each step. We also prove that any operation that has range contained in a low enough dimension subspace of the space of density operators has limiting behavior isomorphic to an associated Markov chain. A particular class of such operations are coherent operations followed by an orthogonal measurement. Applications of the convergence theorems to quantum walks are given.

Quantum communication with coherent states of light

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, Imran; Elser, Dominique; Dirmeier, Thomas; Marquardt, Christoph; Leuchs, Gerd

2017-06-01

Quantum communication offers long-term security especially, but not only, relevant to government and industrial users. It is worth noting that, for the first time in the history of cryptographic encoding, we are currently in the situation that secure communication can be based on the fundamental laws of physics (information theoretical security) rather than on algorithmic security relying on the complexity of algorithms, which is periodically endangered as standard computer technology advances. On a fundamental level, the security of quantum key distribution (QKD) relies on the non-orthogonality of the quantum states used. So even coherent states are well suited for this task, the quantum states that largely describe the light generated by laser systems. Depending on whether one uses detectors resolving single or multiple photon states or detectors measuring the field quadratures, one speaks of, respectively, a discrete- or a continuous-variable description. Continuous-variable QKD with coherent states uses a technology that is very similar to the one employed in classical coherent communication systems, the backbone of today's Internet connections. Here, we review recent developments in this field in two connected regimes: (i) improving QKD equipment by implementing front-end telecom devices and (ii) research into satellite QKD for bridging long distances by building upon existing optical satellite links. This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantum technology for the 21st century'.

Quantum communication with coherent states of light.

PubMed

Khan, Imran; Elser, Dominique; Dirmeier, Thomas; Marquardt, Christoph; Leuchs, Gerd

2017-08-06

Quantum communication offers long-term security especially, but not only, relevant to government and industrial users. It is worth noting that, for the first time in the history of cryptographic encoding, we are currently in the situation that secure communication can be based on the fundamental laws of physics (information theoretical security) rather than on algorithmic security relying on the complexity of algorithms, which is periodically endangered as standard computer technology advances. On a fundamental level, the security of quantum key distribution (QKD) relies on the non-orthogonality of the quantum states used. So even coherent states are well suited for this task, the quantum states that largely describe the light generated by laser systems. Depending on whether one uses detectors resolving single or multiple photon states or detectors measuring the field quadratures, one speaks of, respectively, a discrete- or a continuous-variable description. Continuous-variable QKD with coherent states uses a technology that is very similar to the one employed in classical coherent communication systems, the backbone of today's Internet connections. Here, we review recent developments in this field in two connected regimes: (i) improving QKD equipment by implementing front-end telecom devices and (ii) research into satellite QKD for bridging long distances by building upon existing optical satellite links.This article is part of the themed issue 'Quantum technology for the 21st century'. © 2017 The Author(s).

Generation and Coherent Control of Pulsed Quantum Frequency Combs.

PubMed

MacLellan, Benjamin; Roztocki, Piotr; Kues, Michael; Reimer, Christian; Romero Cortés, Luis; Zhang, Yanbing; Sciara, Stefania; Wetzel, Benjamin; Cino, Alfonso; Chu, Sai T; Little, Brent E; Moss, David J; Caspani, Lucia; Azaña, José; Morandotti, Roberto

2018-06-08

We present a method for the generation and coherent manipulation of pulsed quantum frequency combs. Until now, methods of preparing high-dimensional states on-chip in a practical way have remained elusive due to the increasing complexity of the quantum circuitry needed to prepare and process such states. Here, we outline how high-dimensional, frequency-bin entangled, two-photon states can be generated at a stable, high generation rate by using a nested-cavity, actively mode-locked excitation of a nonlinear micro-cavity. This technique is used to produce pulsed quantum frequency combs. Moreover, we present how the quantum states can be coherently manipulated using standard telecommunications components such as programmable filters and electro-optic modulators. In particular, we show in detail how to accomplish state characterization measurements such as density matrix reconstruction, coincidence detection, and single photon spectrum determination. The presented methods form an accessible, reconfigurable, and scalable foundation for complex high-dimensional state preparation and manipulation protocols in the frequency domain.

Fundamental limits to single-photon detection determined by quantum coherence and backaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, Steve M.; Sarovar, Mohan; Léonard, François

2018-03-01

Single-photon detectors have achieved impressive performance and have led to a number of new scientific discoveries and technological applications. Existing models of photodetectors are semiclassical in that the field-matter interaction is treated perturbatively and time-separated from physical processes in the absorbing matter. An open question is whether a fully quantum detector, whereby the optical field, the optical absorption, and the amplification are considered as one quantum system, could have improved performance. Here we develop a theoretical model of such photodetectors and employ simulations to reveal the critical role played by quantum coherence and amplification backaction in dictating the performance. We show that coherence and backaction lead to trade-offs between detector metrics and also determine optimal system designs through control of the quantum-classical interface. Importantly, we establish the design parameters that result in a ideal photodetector with 100% efficiency, no dark counts, and minimal jitter, thus paving the route for next-generation detectors.

Coherent coupling between a quantum dot and a donor in silicon

DOE PAGES

Harvey-Collard, Patrick; Jacobson, N. Tobias; Rudolph, Martin; ...

2017-10-18

Individual donors in silicon chips are used as quantum bits with extremely low error rates. However, physical realizations have been limited to one donor because their atomic size causes fabrication challenges. Quantum dot qubits, in contrast, are highly adjustable using electrical gate voltages. This adjustability could be leveraged to deterministically couple donors to quantum dots in arrays of qubits. In this work, we demonstrate the coherent interaction of a 31P donor electron with the electron of a metal-oxide-semiconductor quantum dot. We form a logical qubit encoded in the spin singlet and triplet states of the two-electron system. We show thatmore » the donor nuclear spin drives coherent rotations between the electronic qubit states through the contact hyperfine interaction. This provides every key element for compact two-electron spin qubits requiring only a single dot and no additional magnetic field gradients, as well as a means to interact with the nuclear spin qubit.« less

Coherent inflationary dynamics for Bose-Einstein condensates crossing a quantum critical point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Lei; Clark, Logan W.; Gaj, Anita; Chin, Cheng

2018-03-01

Quantum phase transitions, transitions between many-body ground states, are of extensive interest in research ranging from condensed-matter physics to cosmology1-4. Key features of the phase transitions include a stage with rapidly growing new order, called inflation in cosmology5, followed by the formation of topological defects6-8. How inflation is initiated and evolves into topological defects remains a hot topic of debate. Ultracold atomic gas offers a pristine and tunable platform to investigate quantum critical dynamics9-21. We report the observation of coherent inflationary dynamics across a quantum critical point in driven Bose-Einstein condensates. The inflation manifests in the exponential growth of density waves and populations in well-resolved momentum states. After the inflation stage, extended coherent dynamics is evident in both real and momentum space. We present an intuitive description of the quantum critical dynamics in our system and demonstrate the essential role of phase fluctuations in the formation of topological defects.

Can quantum coherent solar cells break detailed balance?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirk, Alexander P.

2015-07-01

Carefully engineered coherent quantum states have been proposed as a design attribute that is hypothesized to enable solar photovoltaic cells to break the detailed balance (or radiative) limit of power conversion efficiency by possibly causing radiative recombination to be suppressed. However, in full compliance with the principles of statistical mechanics and the laws of thermodynamics, specially prepared coherent quantum states do not allow a solar photovoltaic cell—a quantum threshold energy conversion device—to exceed the detailed balance limit of power conversion efficiency. At the condition given by steady-state open circuit operation with zero nonradiative recombination, the photon absorption rate (or carrier photogeneration rate) must balance the photon emission rate (or carrier radiative recombination rate) thus ensuring that detailed balance prevails. Quantum state transitions, entropy-generating hot carrier relaxation, and photon absorption and emission rate balancing are employed holistically and self-consistently along with calculations of current density, voltage, and power conversion efficiency to explain why detailed balance may not be violated in solar photovoltaic cells.

Coherent and dissipative transport in a Josephson junction between fermionic superfluids of 6Li atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neri, Elettra; Scazza, Francesco; Roati, Giacomo

2018-04-01

Quantum systems out of equilibrium offer the possibility of understanding intriguing and challenging problems in modern physics. Studying transport properties is not only valuable to unveil fundamental properties of quantum matter but it is also an excellent tool for developing new quantum devices which inherently employ quantum-mechanical effects. In this contribution, we present our experimental studies on quantum transport using ultracold Fermi gases of 6Li atoms. We realize the analogous of a Josephson junction by bisecting fermionic superfluids by a thin optical barrier. We observe coherent dynamics in both the population and in the relative phase between the two reservoirs. For critical parameters, the superfluid dynamics exhibits both coherent and resistive flow due to phase-slippage events manifesting as vortices propagating into the bulk. We uncover also a regime of strong dissipation where the junction operation is irreversibly affected by vortex proliferation. Our studies open new directions for investigating dissipation and superfluid transport in strongly correlated fermionic systems.

Silicon quantum processor with robust long-distance qubit couplings.

PubMed

Tosi, Guilherme; Mohiyaddin, Fahd A; Schmitt, Vivien; Tenberg, Stefanie; Rahman, Rajib; Klimeck, Gerhard; Morello, Andrea

2017-09-06

Practical quantum computers require a large network of highly coherent qubits, interconnected in a design robust against errors. Donor spins in silicon provide state-of-the-art coherence and quantum gate fidelities, in a platform adapted from industrial semiconductor processing. Here we present a scalable design for a silicon quantum processor that does not require precise donor placement and leaves ample space for the routing of interconnects and readout devices. We introduce the flip-flop qubit, a combination of the electron-nuclear spin states of a phosphorus donor that can be controlled by microwave electric fields. Two-qubit gates exploit a second-order electric dipole-dipole interaction, allowing selective coupling beyond the nearest-neighbor, at separations of hundreds of nanometers, while microwave resonators can extend the entanglement to macroscopic distances. We predict gate fidelities within fault-tolerance thresholds using realistic noise models. This design provides a realizable blueprint for scalable spin-based quantum computers in silicon.Quantum computers will require a large network of coherent qubits, connected in a noise-resilient way. Tosi et al. present a design for a quantum processor based on electron-nuclear spins in silicon, with electrical control and coupling schemes that simplify qubit fabrication and operation.

State-conditional coherent charge qubit oscillations in a Si/SiGe quadruple quantum dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, Daniel R.; Kim, Dohun; Savage, Donald E.; Lagally, Max G.; Foote, Ryan H.; Friesen, Mark; Coppersmith, Susan N.; Eriksson, Mark A.

2016-10-01

Universal quantum computation requires high-fidelity single-qubit rotations and controlled two-qubit gates. Along with high-fidelity single-qubit gates, strong efforts have been made in developing robust two-qubit logic gates in electrically gated quantum dot systems to realise a compact and nanofabrication-compatible architecture. Here we perform measurements of state-conditional coherent oscillations of a charge qubit. Using a quadruple quantum dot formed in a Si/SiGe heterostructure, we show the first demonstration of coherent two-axis control of a double quantum dot charge qubit in undoped Si/SiGe, performing Larmor and Ramsey oscillation measurements. We extract the strength of the capacitive coupling between a pair of double quantum dots by measuring the detuning energy shift (≈75 μeV) of one double dot depending on the excess charge configuration of the other double dot. We further demonstrate that the strong capacitive coupling allows fast, state-conditional Landau-Zener-Stückelberg oscillations with a conditional π phase flip time of about 80 ps, showing a promising pathway towards multi-qubit entanglement and control in semiconductor quantum dots.

State-conditional coherent charge qubit oscillations in a Si/SiGe quadruple quantum dot

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

Ward, Daniel R.; Kim, Dohun; Savage, Donald E.

Universal quantum computation requires high-fidelity single-qubit rotations and controlled two-qubit gates. Along with high-fidelity single-qubit gates, strong efforts have been made in developing robust two-qubit logic gates in electrically gated quantum dot systems to realise a compact and nanofabrication-compatible architecture. Here we perform measurements of state-conditional coherent oscillations of a charge qubit. Using a quadruple quantum dot formed in a Si/SiGe heterostructure, we show the first demonstration of coherent two-axis control of a double quantum dot charge qubit in undoped Si/SiGe, performing Larmor and Ramsey oscillation measurements. We extract the strength of the capacitive coupling between a pair of doublemore » quantum dots by measuring the detuning energy shift (≈75 μeV) of one double dot depending on the excess charge configuration of the other double dot. Finally, we further demonstrate that the strong capacitive coupling allows fast, state-conditional Landau–Zener–Stückelberg oscillations with a conditional π phase flip time of about 80 ps, showing a promising pathway towards multi-qubit entanglement and control in semiconductor quantum dots.« less

State-conditional coherent charge qubit oscillations in a Si/SiGe quadruple quantum dot

DOE PAGES

Ward, Daniel R.; Kim, Dohun; Savage, Donald E.; ...

2016-10-18

Universal quantum computation requires high-fidelity single-qubit rotations and controlled two-qubit gates. Along with high-fidelity single-qubit gates, strong efforts have been made in developing robust two-qubit logic gates in electrically gated quantum dot systems to realise a compact and nanofabrication-compatible architecture. Here we perform measurements of state-conditional coherent oscillations of a charge qubit. Using a quadruple quantum dot formed in a Si/SiGe heterostructure, we show the first demonstration of coherent two-axis control of a double quantum dot charge qubit in undoped Si/SiGe, performing Larmor and Ramsey oscillation measurements. We extract the strength of the capacitive coupling between a pair of doublemore » quantum dots by measuring the detuning energy shift (≈75 μeV) of one double dot depending on the excess charge configuration of the other double dot. Finally, we further demonstrate that the strong capacitive coupling allows fast, state-conditional Landau–Zener–Stückelberg oscillations with a conditional π phase flip time of about 80 ps, showing a promising pathway towards multi-qubit entanglement and control in semiconductor quantum dots.« less

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.

Voltage-selective bidirectional polarization and coherent rotation of nuclear spins in quantum dots.

PubMed

Takahashi, R; Kono, K; Tarucha, S; Ono, K

2011-07-08

We propose and demonstrate that the nuclear spins of the host lattice in GaAs double quantum dots can be polarized in either of two opposite directions, parallel or antiparallel to an external magnetic field. The direction is selected by adjusting the dc voltage. This nuclear polarization manifests itself by repeated controlled electron-nuclear spin scattering in the Pauli spin-blockade state. Polarized nuclei are also controlled by means of nuclear magnetic resonance. This Letter confirms that the nuclear spins in quantum dots are long-lived quantum states with a coherence time of up to 1 ms, and may be a promising resource for quantum-information processing such as quantum memories for electron spin qubits.

Coherent control in simple quantum systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Prants, Sergey V.

1995-01-01

Coherent dynamics of two, three, and four-level quantum systems, simultaneously driven by concurrent laser pulses of arbitrary and different forms, is treated by using a nonperturbative, group-theoretical approach. The respective evolution matrices are calculated in an explicit form. General aspects of controllability of few-level atoms by using laser fields are treated analytically.

On coherent states for the simplest quantum groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jurčo, Branislav

1991-01-01

The coherent states for the simplest quantum groups ( q-Heisenberg-Weyl, SU q (2) and the discrete series of representations of SU q (1, 1)) are introduced and their properties investigated. The corresponding analytic representations, path integrals, and q-deformation of Berezin's quantization on ℂ, a sphere, and the Lobatchevsky plane are discussed.

Teleportation of a general two-mode coherent-state superposition via attenuated quantum channels with ideal and/or threshold detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

An, Nguyen Ba

2009-04-01

Three novel probabilistic yet conclusive schemes are proposed to teleport a general two-mode coherent-state superposition via attenuated quantum channels with ideal and/or threshold detectors. The calculated total success probability is highest (lowest) when only ideal (threshold) detectors are used.

Quantum coherence spectroscopy reveals complex dynamics in bacterial light-harvesting complex 2 (LH2).

PubMed

Harel, Elad; Engel, Gregory S

2012-01-17

Light-harvesting antenna complexes transfer energy from sunlight to photosynthetic reaction centers where charge separation drives cellular metabolism. The process through which pigments transfer excitation energy involves a complex choreography of coherent and incoherent processes mediated by the surrounding protein and solvent environment. The recent discovery of coherent dynamics in photosynthetic light-harvesting antennae has motivated many theoretical models exploring effects of interference in energy transfer phenomena. In this work, we provide experimental evidence of long-lived quantum coherence between the spectrally separated B800 and B850 rings of the light-harvesting complex 2 (LH2) of purple bacteria. Spectrally resolved maps of the detuning, dephasing, and the amplitude of electronic coupling between excitons reveal that different relaxation pathways act in concert for optimal transfer efficiency. Furthermore, maps of the phase of the signal suggest that quantum mechanical interference between different energy transfer pathways may be important even at ambient temperature. Such interference at a product state has already been shown to enhance the quantum efficiency of transfer in theoretical models of closed loop systems such as LH2.

Quantum coherence spectroscopy reveals complex dynamics in bacterial light-harvesting complex 2 (LH2)

PubMed Central

Harel, Elad; Engel, Gregory S.

2012-01-01

Light-harvesting antenna complexes transfer energy from sunlight to photosynthetic reaction centers where charge separation drives cellular metabolism. The process through which pigments transfer excitation energy involves a complex choreography of coherent and incoherent processes mediated by the surrounding protein and solvent environment. The recent discovery of coherent dynamics in photosynthetic light-harvesting antennae has motivated many theoretical models exploring effects of interference in energy transfer phenomena. In this work, we provide experimental evidence of long-lived quantum coherence between the spectrally separated B800 and B850 rings of the light-harvesting complex 2 (LH2) of purple bacteria. Spectrally resolved maps of the detuning, dephasing, and the amplitude of electronic coupling between excitons reveal that different relaxation pathways act in concert for optimal transfer efficiency. Furthermore, maps of the phase of the signal suggest that quantum mechanical interference between different energy transfer pathways may be important even at ambient temperature. Such interference at a product state has already been shown to enhance the quantum efficiency of transfer in theoretical models of closed loop systems such as LH2. PMID:22215585

Zero Quantum Coherence in a Series of Covalent Spin-Correlated Radical Pairs.

PubMed

Nelson, Jordan N; Krzyaniak, Matthew D; Horwitz, Noah E; Rugg, Brandon K; Phelan, Brian T; Wasielewski, Michael R

2017-03-23

Photoinitiated subnanosecond electron transfer within covalently linked electron donor-acceptor molecules can result in the formation of a spin-correlated radical pair (SCRP) with a well-defined initial singlet spin configuration. Subsequent coherent mixing between the SCRP singlet and triplet m s = 0 spin states, the so-called zero quantum coherence (ZQC), is of potential interest in quantum information processing applications because the ZQC can be probed using pulse electron paramagnetic resonance (pulse-EPR) techniques. Here, pulse-EPR spectroscopy is utilized to examine the ZQC oscillation frequencies and ZQC dephasing in three structurally well-defined D-A systems. While transitions between the singlet and triplet m s = 0 spin states are formally forbidden (Δm s = 0), they can be addressed using specific microwave pulse turning angles to map information from the ZQC onto observable single quantum coherences. In addition, by using structural variations to tune the singlet-triplet energy gap, the ZQC frequencies determined for this series of molecules indicate a stronger dependence on the electronic g-factor than on electron-nuclear hyperfine interactions.

Vacuum-induced coherence in quantum dot systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sitek, Anna; Machnikowski, Paweł

2012-11-01

We present a theoretical study of vacuum-induced coherence in a pair of vertically stacked semiconductor quantum dots. The process consists in a coherent excitation transfer from a single-exciton state localized in one dot to a delocalized state in which the exciton occupation gets trapped. We study the influence of the factors characteristic of quantum dot systems (as opposed to natural atoms): energy mismatch, coupling between the single-exciton states localized in different dots, and different and nonparallel dipoles due to sub-band mixing, as well as coupling to phonons. We show that the destructive effect of the energy mismatch can be overcome by an appropriate interplay of the dipole moments and coupling between the dots which allows one to observe the trapping effect even in a structure with technologically realistic energy splitting of the order of milli-electron volts. We also analyze the impact of phonon dynamics on the occupation trapping and show that phonon effects are suppressed in a certain range of system parameters. This analysis shows that the vacuum-induced coherence effect and the associated long-living trapped excitonic population can be achieved in quantum dots.

Transient quantum coherent effects in the acetylene-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stepanov, S.; Rodríguez Casillas, N.; Ocegueda Miramontes, M.; Hernández Hernández, E.

2017-02-01

Low-pressure acetylene in the hollow-core photonic crystal structure fibers is an excellent medium for the room-temperature investigation of the coherent quantum effects in communication wavelength region. Pulsed excitation enables observation of new coherent phenomena like optical nutation or photon echo and evaluation of important temporal characteristics of the light-molecule interactions. We also report original experimental results on the pulsed excitation of the electromagnetically induced transparency in co- and counter-propagation configurations.

Coherent manipulation of spin qubits based on polyoxometalates: the case of the single ion magnet [GdW30P5O110]14-.

PubMed

Baldoví, José J; Cardona-Serra, Salvador; Clemente-Juan, Juan M; Coronado, Eugenio; Gaita-Ariño, Alejandro; Prima-García, Helena

2013-10-11

Polyoxometalate single ion magnet [GdW30P5O110](14-) (1) has been studied by generalized Rabi oscillation experiments. It was possible to increase the number of coherent rotations tenfold through matching the Rabi frequency with the frequency of the proton. Achieving high coherence with polyoxometalate chemistry, we show its excellent potential not only for the storage of quantum information but even for the realization of quantum algorithms.

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.

Coherent Population Trapping in a Superconducting Phase Qubit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelly, William R.; Dutton, Zachary; Ohki, Thomas A.; Schlafer, John; Mookerji, Bhaskar; Kline, Jeffery S.; Pappas, David P.

2010-03-01

The phenomenon of Coherent Population Trapping (CPT) of an atom (or solid state ``artificial atom''), and the associated effect of Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT), are clear demonstrations of quantum interference due to coherence in multi-level quantum systems. We report observation of CPT in a superconducting phase qubit by simultaneously driving two coherent transitions in a λ-type configuration, utilizing the three lowest lying levels of a local minimum of the phase qubit. We observe ˜60% suppression of excited state population under conditions of two-photon resonance, where EIT and CPT are expected to occur. We present data and matching theoretical simulations showing the development of CPT in time. We also used the observed time dependence of the excited state population to characterize quantum dephasing times of the system, as predicted in [1]. [1] K.V. Murali, Z. Dutton, W.D. Oliver, D.S. Crankshaw, and T.P.Orlando, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 087003 (2004).

Unbounded number of channel uses may be required to detect quantum capacity.

PubMed

Cubitt, Toby; Elkouss, David; Matthews, William; Ozols, Maris; Pérez-García, David; Strelchuk, Sergii

2015-03-31

Transmitting data reliably over noisy communication channels is one of the most important applications of information theory, and is well understood for channels modelled by classical physics. However, when quantum effects are involved, we do not know how to compute channel capacities. This is because the formula for the quantum capacity involves maximizing the coherent information over an unbounded number of channel uses. In fact, entanglement across channel uses can even increase the coherent information from zero to non-zero. Here we study the number of channel uses necessary to detect positive coherent information. In all previous known examples, two channel uses already sufficed. It might be that only a finite number of channel uses is always sufficient. We show that this is not the case: for any number of uses, there are channels for which the coherent information is zero, but which nonetheless have capacity.

QUANTUM CONTROL OF LIGHT: From Slow Light and FAST CARS to Nuclear γ-ray Spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scully, Marlan

2007-06-01

In recent work we have demonstrated strong coherent backward wave oscillation using forward propagating fields only. This surprising result is achieved by applying laser fields to an ultra-dispersive medium with proper chosen detunings to excite a molecular vibrational coherence that corresponds to a backward propagating wave [PRL, 97, 113001 (2006)]. The physics then has much in common with propagation of ultra-slow light. Applications of coherent scattering and remote sensing to the detection of bio and chemical pathogens (e.g., anthrax) via Coherent Anti-Raman Scattering together with Femtosecond Adaptive Spectroscopic Techniques (FAST CARS [Opt. Comm., 244, 423 (2005)]) will be discussed. Furthermore, the interplay between quantum optics (Dicke super and sub-radiant states) and nuclear physics (forward scattering of γ radiation) provides interesting problems and insights into the quantum control of scattered light [PRL, 96, 010501 (2005)].

Harmonic Quantum Coherence of Multiple Excitons in PbS/CdS Core-Shell Nanocrystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tahara, Hirokazu; Sakamoto, Masanori; Teranishi, Toshiharu; Kanemitsu, Yoshihiko

2017-12-01

The generation and recombination dynamics of multiple excitons in nanocrystals (NCs) have attracted much attention from the viewpoints of fundamental physics and device applications. However, the quantum coherence of multiple exciton states in NCs still remains unclear due to a lack of experimental support. Here, we report the first observation of harmonic dipole oscillations in PbS/CdS core-shell NCs using a phase-locked interference detection method for transient absorption. From the ultrafast coherent dynamics and excitation-photon-fluence dependence of the oscillations, we found that multiple excitons cause the harmonic dipole oscillations with ω , 2 ω , and 3 ω oscillations, even though the excitation pulse energy is set to the exciton resonance frequency, ω . This observation is closely related to the quantum coherence of multiple exciton states in NCs, providing important insights into multiple exciton generation mechanisms.

Maximal coherence and the resource theory of purity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Streltsov, Alexander; Kampermann, Hermann; Wölk, Sabine; Gessner, Manuel; Bruß, Dagmar

2018-05-01

The resource theory of quantum coherence studies the off-diagonal elements of a density matrix in a distinguished basis, whereas the resource theory of purity studies all deviations from the maximally mixed state. We establish a direct connection between the two resource theories, by identifying purity as the maximal coherence which is achievable by unitary operations. The states that saturate this maximum identify a universal family of maximally coherent mixed states. These states are optimal resources under maximally incoherent operations, and thus independent of the way coherence is quantified. For all distance-based coherence quantifiers the maximal coherence can be evaluated exactly, and is shown to coincide with the corresponding distance-based purity quantifier. We further show that purity bounds the maximal amount of entanglement and discord that can be generated by unitary operations, thus demonstrating that purity is the most elementary resource for quantum information processing.

Holonomic Quantum Control by Coherent Optical Excitation in Diamond.

PubMed

Zhou, Brian B; Jerger, Paul C; Shkolnikov, V O; Heremans, F Joseph; Burkard, Guido; Awschalom, David D

2017-10-06

Although geometric phases in quantum evolution are historically overlooked, their active control now stimulates strategies for constructing robust quantum technologies. Here, we demonstrate arbitrary single-qubit holonomic gates from a single cycle of nonadiabatic evolution, eliminating the need to concatenate two separate cycles. Our method varies the amplitude, phase, and detuning of a two-tone optical field to control the non-Abelian geometric phase acquired by a nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond over a coherent excitation cycle. We demonstrate the enhanced robustness of detuned gates to excited-state decoherence and provide insights for optimizing fast holonomic control in dissipative quantum systems.

Holonomic Quantum Control by Coherent Optical Excitation in Diamond

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

Zhou, Brian B.; Jerger, Paul C.; Shkolnikov, V. O.

Although geometric phases in quantum evolution are historically overlooked, their active control now stimulates strategies for constructing robust quantum technologies. Here, we demonstrate arbitrary singlequbit holonomic gates from a single cycle of nonadiabatic evolution, eliminating the need to concatenate two separate cycles. Our method varies the amplitude, phase, and detuning of a two-tone optical field to control the non-Abelian geometric phase acquired by a nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond over a coherent excitation cycle. We demonstrate the enhanced robustness of detuned gates to excited-state decoherence and provide insights for optimizing fast holonomic control in dissipative quantum systems.

Squeezed-state quantum key distribution with a Rindler observer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Jian; Shi, Ronghua; Guo, Ying

2018-03-01

Lengthening the maximum transmission distance of quantum key distribution plays a vital role in quantum information processing. In this paper, we propose a directional squeezed-state protocol with signals detected by a Rindler observer in the relativistic quantum field framework. We derive an analytical solution to the transmission problem of squeezed states from the inertial sender to the accelerated receiver. The variance of the involved signal mode is closer to optimality than that of the coherent-state-based protocol. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol has better performance than the coherent-state counterpart especially in terms of the maximal transmission distance.

Coherent optical pulse sequencer for quantum applications.

PubMed

Hosseini, Mahdi; Sparkes, Ben M; Hétet, Gabriel; Longdell, Jevon J; Lam, Ping Koy; Buchler, Ben C

2009-09-10

The bandwidth and versatility of optical devices have revolutionized information technology systems and communication networks. Precise and arbitrary control of an optical field that preserves optical coherence is an important requisite for many proposed photonic technologies. For quantum information applications, a device that allows storage and on-demand retrieval of arbitrary quantum states of light would form an ideal quantum optical memory. Recently, significant progress has been made in implementing atomic quantum memories using electromagnetically induced transparency, photon echo spectroscopy, off-resonance Raman spectroscopy and other atom-light interaction processes. Single-photon and bright-optical-field storage with quantum states have both been successfully demonstrated. Here we present a coherent optical memory based on photon echoes induced through controlled reversible inhomogeneous broadening. Our scheme allows storage of multiple pulses of light within a chosen frequency bandwidth, and stored pulses can be recalled in arbitrary order with any chosen delay between each recalled pulse. Furthermore, pulses can be time-compressed, time-stretched or split into multiple smaller pulses and recalled in several pieces at chosen times. Although our experimental results are so far limited to classical light pulses, our technique should enable the construction of an optical random-access memory for time-bin quantum information, and have potential applications in quantum information processing.

Towards quantification of vibronic coupling in photosynthetic antenna complexes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, V. P.; Westberg, M.; Wang, C.; Dahlberg, P. D.; Gellen, T.; Gardiner, A. T.; Cogdell, R. J.; Engel, G. S.

2015-06-01

Photosynthetic antenna complexes harvest sunlight and efficiently transport energy to the reaction center where charge separation powers biochemical energy storage. The discovery of existence of long lived quantum coherence during energy transfer has sparked the discussion on the role of quantum coherence on the energy transfer efficiency. Early works assigned observed coherences to electronic states, and theoretical studies showed that electronic coherences could affect energy transfer efficiency—by either enhancing or suppressing transfer. However, the nature of coherences has been fiercely debated as coherences only report the energy gap between the states that generate coherence signals. Recent works have suggested that either the coherences observed in photosynthetic antenna complexes arise from vibrational wave packets on the ground state or, alternatively, coherences arise from mixed electronic and vibrational states. Understanding origin of coherences is important for designing molecules for efficient light harvesting. Here, we give a direct experimental observation from a mutant of LH2, which does not have B800 chromophores, to distinguish between electronic, vibrational, and vibronic coherence. We also present a minimal theoretical model to characterize the coherences both in the two limiting cases of purely vibrational and purely electronic coherence as well as in the intermediate, vibronic regime.

Multipion correlations induced by isospin conservation of coherent emission

DOE PAGES

Gangadharan, Dhevan

2016-09-15

Recent measurements have revealed a significant suppression of multipion Bose–Einstein correlations in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. The suppression may be explained by postulating coherent pion emission. Typically, the suppression of Bose–Einstein correlations due to coherence is taken into account with the coherent state formalism in quantum optics. However, since charged pion correlations are most often measured, the additional constraint of isospin conservation, which is absent in quantum optics, needs to be taken into account. As a consequence, correlations emerge between pions of opposite charge. A calculation of the correlations induced by isospin conservation of coherent emission is made formore » two, three- and four-pion correlation functions and compared to the data from the LHC.« less

Nuclear spin cooling by electric dipole spin resonance and coherent population trapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Ai-Xian; Duan, Su-Qing; Zhang, Wei

2017-09-01

Nuclear spin fluctuation suppression is a key issue in preserving electron coherence for quantum information/computation. We propose an efficient way of nuclear spin cooling in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) by the coherent population trapping (CPT) and the electric dipole spin resonance (EDSR) induced by optical fields and ac electric fields. The EDSR can enhance the spin flip-flop rate and may bring out bistability under certain conditions. By tuning the optical fields, we can avoid the EDSR induced bistability and obtain highly polarized nuclear spin state, which results in long electron coherence time. With the help of CPT and EDSR, an enhancement of 1500 times of the electron coherence time can been obtained after a 500 ns preparation time.

Long-distance measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with coherent-state superpositions.

PubMed

Yin, H-L; Cao, W-F; Fu, Y; Tang, Y-L; Liu, Y; Chen, T-Y; Chen, Z-B

2014-09-15

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) with decoy-state method is believed to be securely applied to defeat various hacking attacks in practical quantum key distribution systems. Recently, the coherent-state superpositions (CSS) have emerged as an alternative to single-photon qubits for quantum information processing and metrology. Here, in this Letter, CSS are exploited as the source in MDI-QKD. We present an analytical method that gives two tight formulas to estimate the lower bound of yield and the upper bound of bit error rate. We exploit the standard statistical analysis and Chernoff bound to perform the parameter estimation. Chernoff bound can provide good bounds in the long-distance MDI-QKD. Our results show that with CSS, both the security transmission distance and secure key rate are significantly improved compared with those of the weak coherent states in the finite-data case.

Quantum Coherent Dynamics Enhanced by Synchronization with Nonequilibrium Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishikawa, Akira; Okada, Ryo; Uchiyama, Kazuharu; Hori, Hirokazu; Kobayashi, Kiyoshi

2018-05-01

We report the discovery of the anomalous enhancement of quantum coherent dynamics (CD) due to a non-Markovian mechanism originating from not thermal-equilibrium phonon baths but nonequilibrium coherent phonons. CD is an elementary process for quantum phenomena in nanosystems, such as excitation transfer (ET) in semiconductor nanostructures and light-harvesting systems. CD occurs in homogeneous nanosystems because system inhomogeneity typically destroys coherence. In real systems, however, nanosystems behave as open systems surrounded by environments such as phonon systems. Typically, CD in inhomogeneous nanosystems is enhanced by the absorption and emission of thermal-equilibrium phonons, and the enhancement is described by the conventional master equation. On the other hand, CD is also enhanced by synchronization between population dynamics in nanosystems and coherent phonons; namely, coherent phonons, which are self-consistently induced by phase matching with Rabi oscillation, are fed back to enhance CD. This anomalous enhancement of CD essentially originates from the nonequilibrium and dynamical non-Markovian nature of coherent phonon environments, and the enhancement is firstly predicted by applying time-dependent projection operators to nonequilibrium and dynamical environments. Moreover, CD is discussed by considering ET from a donor to an acceptor. It is found that the enhancement of ET by synchronization with coherent phonons depends on the competition between the output time from a system to an acceptor and the formation time of coherent phonons. These findings in this study will stimulate the design and manipulation of CD via structured environments from the viewpoint of application to nano-photoelectronic devices.

Multimode Regimes in Quantum Cascade Lasers: From Coherent Instabilities to Spatial Hole Burning

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-02-10

from which absorption can take place; and although not very significant, there is always bulk n2 of the material. 1 A. E. Siegman , Lasers ...2007 4. TI11.E AND SUBTITI..E 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Multimode regimes in quantum cascade lasers : from coherent W91INF-04-I-0253 instabilities to spatial...quantum cascade lasers (QCLs). In narrow devices it is found that above a second threshold the laser spectrwn dramatically broadens showing multimode

High-speed data encryption over 25 km of fiber by two-mode coherent-state quantum cryptography.

PubMed

Corndorf, Eric; Barbosa, Geraldo; Liang, Chuang; Yuen, Horace P; Kumar, Prem

2003-11-01

We demonstrate high-speed (250 Mbps) data encryption over 25 km of telecommunication fiber by use of coherent states. For the parameter values used in the experiment, the demonstration is secure against individual ciphertext-only eavesdropping attacks near the transmitter with ideal detection equipment. Whereas other quantum-cryptographic schemes require the use of fragile quantum states and ultrasensitive detection equipment, our protocol is loss tolerant, uses off-the-shelf components, and is optically amplifiable.

Protecting quantum memories using coherent parity check codes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roffe, Joschka; Headley, David; Chancellor, Nicholas; Horsman, Dominic; Kendon, Viv

2018-07-01

Coherent parity check (CPC) codes are a new framework for the construction of quantum error correction codes that encode multiple qubits per logical block. CPC codes have a canonical structure involving successive rounds of bit and phase parity checks, supplemented by cross-checks to fix the code distance. In this paper, we provide a detailed introduction to CPC codes using conventional quantum circuit notation. We demonstrate the implementation of a CPC code on real hardware, by designing a [[4, 2, 2

Comparison of coherently coupled multi-cavity and quantum dot embedded single cavity systems.

PubMed

Kocaman, Serdar; Sayan, Gönül Turhan

2016-12-12

Temporal group delays originating from the optical analogue to electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) are compared in two systems. Similar transmission characteristics are observed between a coherently coupled high-Q multi-cavity array and a single quantum dot (QD) embedded cavity in the weak coupling regime. However, theoretically generated group delay values for the multi-cavity case are around two times higher. Both configurations allow direct scalability for chip-scale optical pulse trapping and coupled-cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED).

Probing finite coarse-grained virtual Feynman histories with sequential weak values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Georgiev, Danko; Cohen, Eliahu

2018-05-01

Feynman's sum-over-histories formulation of quantum mechanics has been considered a useful calculational tool in which virtual Feynman histories entering into a coherent quantum superposition cannot be individually measured. Here we show that sequential weak values, inferred by consecutive weak measurements of projectors, allow direct experimental probing of individual virtual Feynman histories, thereby revealing the exact nature of quantum interference of coherently superposed histories. Because the total sum of sequential weak values of multitime projection operators for a complete set of orthogonal quantum histories is unity, complete sets of weak values could be interpreted in agreement with the standard quantum mechanical picture. We also elucidate the relationship between sequential weak values of quantum histories with different coarse graining in time and establish the incompatibility of weak values for nonorthogonal quantum histories in history Hilbert space. Bridging theory and experiment, the presented results may enhance our understanding of both weak values and quantum histories.

Coherent perfect absorption in a quantum nonlinear regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Yang-hua; Gu, Wen-ju; Yang, Guoqing; Zhu, Yifu; Li, Gao-xiang

2018-05-01

Coherent perfect absorption (CPA) is investigated in the quantum nonlinear regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics (CQED), in which a single two-level atom couples to a single-mode cavity weakly driven by two identical laser fields. In the strong-coupling regime and due to the photon blockade effect, the weakly driven CQED system can be described as a quantum system with three polariton states. CPA is achieved at a critical input field strength when the frequency of the input fields matches the polariton transition frequency. In the quantum nonlinear regime, the incoherent dissipation processes such as atomic and photon decays place a lower bound for the purity of the intracavity quantum field. Our results show that under the CPA condition, the intracavity field always exhibits the quadrature squeezing property manifested by the quantum nonlinearity, and the outgoing photon flux displays the super-Poissonian distribution.

Superradiant Quantum Heat Engine.

PubMed

Hardal, Ali Ü C; Müstecaplıoğlu, Özgür E

2015-08-11

Quantum physics revolutionized classical disciplines of mechanics, statistical physics, and electrodynamics. One branch of scientific knowledge however seems untouched: thermodynamics. Major motivation behind thermodynamics is to develop efficient heat engines. Technology has a trend to miniaturize engines, reaching to quantum regimes. Development of quantum heat engines (QHEs) requires emerging field of quantum thermodynamics. Studies of QHEs debate whether quantum coherence can be used as a resource. We explore an alternative where it can function as an effective catalyst. We propose a QHE which consists of a photon gas inside an optical cavity as the working fluid and quantum coherent atomic clusters as the fuel. Utilizing the superradiance, where a cluster can radiate quadratically faster than a single atom, we show that the work output becomes proportional to the square of the number of the atoms. In addition to practical value of cranking up QHE, our result is a fundamental difference of a quantum fuel from its classical counterpart.

Non-Markovian Investigation of an Autonomous Quantum Heat Engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goyal, Ketan

A systematic study of a quantum heat engine is presented in this thesis. In particular, we study heat conduction through a two-two level composite system, which is then connected to a photon cavity to extract work, forming an autonomous quantum heat engine. The question as to what extent quantum effects such as quantum coherence and correlations impact thermodynamic properties of such a system is addressed. The investigated heat engine has been previously studied using the popular Born-Markovian quantum master equation under weak internal coupling approximation. However, we show that the used approach is quite limited in addressing such problems as it is incapable of correctly accounting for the quantum effects. By using a non-Markovian approach involving hierarchical equations of motion, we show that quantum coherence and correlations between system and environments play a significant role in energy transfer processes of heat conduction and work.

Quantum engineering. Confining the state of light to a quantum manifold by engineered two-photon loss.

PubMed

Leghtas, Z; Touzard, S; Pop, I M; Kou, A; Vlastakis, B; Petrenko, A; Sliwa, K M; Narla, A; Shankar, S; Hatridge, M J; Reagor, M; Frunzio, L; Schoelkopf, R J; Mirrahimi, M; Devoret, M H

2015-02-20

Physical systems usually exhibit quantum behavior, such as superpositions and entanglement, only when they are sufficiently decoupled from a lossy environment. Paradoxically, a specially engineered interaction with the environment can become a resource for the generation and protection of quantum states. This notion can be generalized to the confinement of a system into a manifold of quantum states, consisting of all coherent superpositions of multiple stable steady states. We have confined the state of a superconducting resonator to the quantum manifold spanned by two coherent states of opposite phases and have observed a Schrödinger cat state spontaneously squeeze out of vacuum before decaying into a classical mixture. This experiment points toward robustly encoding quantum information in multidimensional steady-state manifolds. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Coherence number as a discrete quantum resource

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chin, Seungbeom

2017-10-01

We introduce a discrete coherence monotone named the coherence number, which is a generalization of the coherence rank to mixed states. After defining the coherence number in a manner similar to that of the Schmidt number in entanglement theory, we present a necessary and sufficient condition of the coherence number for a coherent state to be converted to an entangled state of nonzero k concurrence (a member of the generalized concurrence family with 2 ≤k ≤d ). As an application of the coherence number to a practical quantum system, Grover's search algorithm of N items is considered. We show that the coherence number remains N and falls abruptly when the success probability of a searching process becomes maximal. This phenomenon motivates us to analyze the depletion pattern of Cc(N ) (the last member of the generalized coherence concurrence, nonzero when the coherence number is N ), which turns out to be an optimal resource for the process since it is completely consumed to finish the searching task. The generalization of the original Grover algorithm with arbitrary (mixed) initial states is also discussed, which reveals the boundary condition for the coherence to be monotonically decreasing under the process.

Robust Multiple-Range Coherent Quantum State Transfer.

PubMed

Chen, Bing; Peng, Yan-Dong; Li, Yong; Qian, Xiao-Feng

2016-07-01

We propose a multiple-range quantum communication channel to realize coherent two-way quantum state transport with high fidelity. In our scheme, an information carrier (a qubit) and its remote partner are both adiabatically coupled to the same data bus, i.e., an N-site tight-binding chain that has a single defect at the center. At the weak interaction regime, our system is effectively equivalent to a three level system of which a coherent superposition of the two carrier states constitutes a dark state. The adiabatic coupling allows a well controllable information exchange timing via the dark state between the two carriers. Numerical results show that our scheme is robust and efficient under practically inevitable perturbative defects of the data bus as well as environmental dephasing noise.

Signatures of Förster and Dexter transfer processes in coupled nanostructures for linear and two-dimensional coherent optical spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Specht, Judith F.; Richter, Marten

2015-03-01

In this manuscript, we study the impact of the two Coulomb induced resonance energy transfer processes, Förster and Dexter coupling, on the spectral signatures obtained by double quantum coherence spectroscopy. We show that the specific coupling characteristics allow us to identify the underlying excitation transfer mechanism by means of specific signatures in coherent spectroscopy. Therefore, we control the microscopic calculated coupling strength of spin preserving and spin flipping Förster transfer processes by varying the mutual orientation of the two quantum emitters. The calculated spectra reveal the optical selection rules altered by Förster and Dexter coupling between two semiconductor quantum dots. We show that Dexter coupling between bright and dark two-exciton states occurs.

Coherent coupling between Vanadyl Phthalocyanine spin ensemble and microwave photons: towards integration of molecular spin qubits into quantum circuits.

PubMed

Bonizzoni, C; Ghirri, A; Atzori, M; Sorace, L; Sessoli, R; Affronte, M

2017-10-12

Electron spins are ideal two-level systems that may couple with microwave photons so that, under specific conditions, coherent spin-photon states can be realized. This represents a fundamental step for the transfer and the manipulation of quantum information. Along with spin impurities in solids, molecular spins in concentrated phases have recently shown coherent dynamics under microwave stimuli. Here we show that it is possible to obtain high cooperativity regime between a molecular Vanadyl Phthalocyanine (VOPc) spin ensemble and a high quality factor superconducting YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 (YBCO) coplanar resonator at 0.5 K. This demonstrates that molecular spin centers can be successfully integrated in hybrid quantum devices.

Double-quantum homonuclear correlations of spin I=5/2 nuclei.

PubMed

Iuga, Dinu

2011-02-01

The challenges associated with acquiring double-quantum homonuclear Nuclear Magnetic Resonance correlation spectra of half-integer quadrupolar nuclei are described. In these experiments the radio-frequency irradiation amplitude is necessarily weak in order to selectively excite the central transition. In this limit only one out of the 25 double-quantum coherences possible for two coupled spin I=5/2 nuclei is excited. An investigation of all the 25 two spins double quantum transitions reveals interesting effects such as a compensation of the first-order quadrupolar interaction between the two single quantum transitions involved in the double quantum coherence. In this paper a full numerical study of a hypothetical two spin I=5/2 system is used to show what happens when the RF amplitude during recoupling is increased. In principle this is advantageous, since the required double quantum coherence should build up faster, but in practice it also induces adiabatic passage transfer of population and coherence which impedes any build up. Finally an optimized rotary resonance recoupling (oR(3)) sequence is introduced in order to decrease these transfers. This sequence consists of a spin locking irradiation whose amplitude is reduced four times during one rotor period, and allows higher RF powers to be used during recoupling. The sequence is used to measure (27)Al DQ dipolar correlation spectra of Y(3)Al(5)O(12) (YAG) and gamma alumina (γAl(2)O(3)). The results prove that aluminium vacancies in gamma alumina mainly occur in the tetrahedral sites. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Quantum discord with weak measurement operators of quasi-Werner states based on bipartite entangled coherent states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castro, E.; Gómez, R.; Ladera, C. L.; Zambrano, A.

2013-11-01

Among many applications quantum weak measurements have been shown to be important in exploring fundamental physics issues, such as the experimental violation of the Heisenberg uncertainty relation and the Hardy paradox, and have also technological implications in quantum optics, quantum metrology and quantum communications, where the precision of the measurement is as important as the precision of quantum state preparation. The theory of weak measurement can be formulated using the pre-and post-selected quantum systems, as well as using the weak measurement operator formalism. In this work, we study the quantum discord (QD) of quasi-Werner mixed states based on bipartite entangled coherent states using the weak measurements operator, instead of the projective measurement operators. We then compare the quantum discord for both kinds of measurement operators, in terms of the entanglement quality, the latter being measured using the concept of concurrence. It's found greater quantum correlations using the weak measurement operators.

Silicon-Vacancy Spin Qubit in Diamond: A Quantum Memory Exceeding 10 ms with Single-Shot State Readout

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sukachev, D. D.; Sipahigil, A.; Nguyen, C. T.; Bhaskar, M. K.; Evans, R. E.; Jelezko, F.; Lukin, M. D.

2017-12-01

The negatively charged silicon-vacancy (SiV- ) color center in diamond has recently emerged as a promising system for quantum photonics. Its symmetry-protected optical transitions enable the creation of indistinguishable emitter arrays and deterministic coupling to nanophotonic devices. Despite this, the longest coherence time associated with its electronic spin achieved to date (˜250 ns ) has been limited by coupling to acoustic phonons. We demonstrate coherent control and suppression of phonon-induced dephasing of the SiV- electronic spin coherence by 5 orders of magnitude by operating at temperatures below 500 mK. By aligning the magnetic field along the SiV- symmetry axis, we demonstrate spin-conserving optical transitions and single-shot readout of the SiV- spin with 89% fidelity. Coherent control of the SiV- spin with microwave fields is used to demonstrate a spin coherence time T2 of 13 ms and a spin relaxation time T1 exceeding 1 s at 100 mK. These results establish the SiV- as a promising solid-state candidate for the realization of quantum networks.

Atomic entanglement purification and concentration using coherent state input-output process in low-Q cavity QED regime.

PubMed

Cao, Cong; Wang, Chuan; He, Ling-Yan; Zhang, Ru

2013-02-25

We investigate an atomic entanglement purification protocol based on the coherent state input-output process by working in low-Q cavity in the atom-cavity intermediate coupling region. The information of entangled states are encoded in three-level configured single atoms confined in separated one-side optical micro-cavities. Using the coherent state input-output process, we design a two-qubit parity check module (PCM), which allows the quantum nondemolition measurement for the atomic qubits, and show its use for remote parities to distill a high-fidelity atomic entangled ensemble from an initial mixed state ensemble nonlocally. The proposed scheme can further be used for unknown atomic states entanglement concentration. Also by exploiting the PCM, we describe a modified scheme for atomic entanglement concentration by introducing ancillary single atoms. As the coherent state input-output process is robust and scalable in realistic applications, and the detection in the PCM is based on the intensity of outgoing coherent state, the present protocols may be widely used in large-scaled and solid-based quantum repeater and quantum information processing.

Achieving Optimal Quantum Acceleration of Frequency Estimation Using Adaptive Coherent Control.

PubMed

Naghiloo, M; Jordan, A N; Murch, K W

2017-11-03

Precision measurements of frequency are critical to accurate time keeping and are fundamentally limited by quantum measurement uncertainties. While for time-independent quantum Hamiltonians the uncertainty of any parameter scales at best as 1/T, where T is the duration of the experiment, recent theoretical works have predicted that explicitly time-dependent Hamiltonians can yield a 1/T^{2} scaling of the uncertainty for an oscillation frequency. This quantum acceleration in precision requires coherent control, which is generally adaptive. We experimentally realize this quantum improvement in frequency sensitivity with superconducting circuits, using a single transmon qubit. With optimal control pulses, the theoretically ideal frequency precision scaling is reached for times shorter than the decoherence time. This result demonstrates a fundamental quantum advantage for frequency estimation.

Highly Efficient Coherent Optical Memory Based on Electromagnetically Induced Transparency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hsiao, Ya-Fen; Tsai, Pin-Ju; Chen, Hung-Shiue; Lin, Sheng-Xiang; Hung, Chih-Chiao; Lee, Chih-Hsi; Chen, Yi-Hsin; Chen, Yong-Fan; Yu, Ite A.; Chen, Ying-Cheng

2018-05-01

Quantum memory is an important component in the long-distance quantum communication based on the quantum repeater protocol. To outperform the direct transmission of photons with quantum repeaters, it is crucial to develop quantum memories with high fidelity, high efficiency and a long storage time. Here, we achieve a storage efficiency of 92.0 (1.5)% for a coherent optical memory based on the electromagnetically induced transparency scheme in optically dense cold atomic media. We also obtain a useful time-bandwidth product of 1200, considering only storage where the retrieval efficiency remains above 50%. Both are the best record to date in all kinds of schemes for the realization of optical memory. Our work significantly advances the pursuit of a high-performance optical memory and should have important applications in quantum information science.

Highly Efficient Coherent Optical Memory Based on Electromagnetically Induced Transparency.

PubMed

Hsiao, Ya-Fen; Tsai, Pin-Ju; Chen, Hung-Shiue; Lin, Sheng-Xiang; Hung, Chih-Chiao; Lee, Chih-Hsi; Chen, Yi-Hsin; Chen, Yong-Fan; Yu, Ite A; Chen, Ying-Cheng

2018-05-04

Quantum memory is an important component in the long-distance quantum communication based on the quantum repeater protocol. To outperform the direct transmission of photons with quantum repeaters, it is crucial to develop quantum memories with high fidelity, high efficiency and a long storage time. Here, we achieve a storage efficiency of 92.0 (1.5)% for a coherent optical memory based on the electromagnetically induced transparency scheme in optically dense cold atomic media. We also obtain a useful time-bandwidth product of 1200, considering only storage where the retrieval efficiency remains above 50%. Both are the best record to date in all kinds of schemes for the realization of optical memory. Our work significantly advances the pursuit of a high-performance optical memory and should have important applications in quantum information science.

Confining the state of light to a quantum manifold by engineered two-photon loss

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leghtas, Z.; Touzard, S.; Pop, I. M.; Kou, A.; Vlastakis, B.; Petrenko, A.; Sliwa, K. M.; Narla, A.; Shankar, S.; Hatridge, M. J.; Reagor, M.; Frunzio, L.; Schoelkopf, R. J.; Mirrahimi, M.; Devoret, M. H.

2015-02-01

Physical systems usually exhibit quantum behavior, such as superpositions and entanglement, only when they are sufficiently decoupled from a lossy environment. Paradoxically, a specially engineered interaction with the environment can become a resource for the generation and protection of quantum states. This notion can be generalized to the confinement of a system into a manifold of quantum states, consisting of all coherent superpositions of multiple stable steady states. We have confined the state of a superconducting resonator to the quantum manifold spanned by two coherent states of opposite phases and have observed a Schrödinger cat state spontaneously squeeze out of vacuum before decaying into a classical mixture. This experiment points toward robustly encoding quantum information in multidimensional steady-state manifolds.

Experimental Implementation of a Quantum Optical State Comparison Amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donaldson, Ross J.; Collins, Robert J.; Eleftheriadou, Electra; Barnett, Stephen M.; Jeffers, John; Buller, Gerald S.

2015-03-01

We present an experimental demonstration of a practical nondeterministic quantum optical amplification scheme that employs two mature technologies, state comparison and photon subtraction, to achieve amplification of known sets of coherent states with high fidelity. The amplifier uses coherent states as a resource rather than single photons, which allows for a relatively simple light source, such as a diode laser, providing an increased rate of amplification. The amplifier is not restricted to low amplitude states. With respect to the two key parameters, fidelity and the amplified state production rate, we demonstrate significant improvements over previous experimental implementations, without the requirement of complex photonic components. Such a system may form the basis of trusted quantum repeaters in nonentanglement-based quantum communications systems with known phase alphabets, such as quantum key distribution or quantum digital signatures.

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.

Shedding (Incoherent) Light on Quantum Effects in Light-Induced Biological Processes.

PubMed

Brumer, Paul

2018-05-18

Light-induced processes that occur in nature, such as photosynthesis and photoisomerization in the first steps in vision, are often studied in the laboratory using coherent pulsed laser sources, which induce time-dependent coherent wavepacket molecule dynamics. Nature, however, uses stationary incoherent thermal radiation, such as sunlight, leading to a totally different molecular response, the time-independent steady state. It is vital to appreciate this difference in order to assess the role of quantum coherence effects in biological systems. Developments in this area are discussed in detail.

Quantum coherence in photo-ionisation with tailored XUV pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlström, Stefanos; Mauritsson, Johan; Schafer, Kenneth J.; L'Huillier, Anne; Gisselbrecht, Mathieu

2018-01-01

Ionisation with ultrashort pulses in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) regime can be used to prepare an ion in a superposition of spin-orbit substates. In this work, we study the coherence properties of such a superposition, created by ionising xenon atoms using two phase-locked XUV pulses at different frequencies. In general, if the duration of the driving pulse exceeds the quantum beat period, dephasing will occur. If however, the frequency difference of the two pulses matches the spin-orbit splitting, the coherence can be efficiently increased and dephasing does not occur.

Controlling the light propagation in one-dimensional photonic crystal via incoherent pump and interdot tunneling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbasabadi, Majid; Sahrai, Mostafa

2018-01-01

We investigated the propagation of an electromagnetic pulse through a one-dimensional photonic crystal doped with quantum-dot (QD) molecules in a defect layer. The QD molecules behave as a three-level quantum system and are driven by a coherent probe laser field and an incoherent pump field. No coherent coupling laser fields were introduced, and the coherence was created by the interdot tunnel effect. Further studied was the effect of tunneling and incoherent pumping on the group velocity of the transmitted and reflected probe pulse.

Quantum many-body dynamics of strongly interacting atom arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernien, Hannes; Keesling, Alexander; Levine, Harry; Schwartz, Sylvain; Omran, Ahmed; Anschuetz, Eric; Endres, Manuel; Vuletic, Vladan; Greiner, Markus; Lukin, Mikhail

2017-04-01

The coherent interaction between large numbers of particles gives rise to fascinating quantum many-body effects and lies at the center of quantum simulations and quantum information processing. The development of systems consisting of many, well-controlled particles with tunable interactions is an outstanding challenge. Here we present a new platform based on large, reconfigurable arrays of individually trapped atoms. Strong interactions between these atoms are enabled by exciting them to Rydberg states. This flexible approach allows access to vastly different regimes with interactions tunable over several orders of magnitude. We study the coherent many-body dynamics in varying array geometries and observe the formation of Rydberg crystals.

Quantum tomography of a molecular bond in ice.

PubMed

Goldschleger, I U; Golschleger, I U; van Staveren, M N; Apkarian, V Ara

2013-07-21

We present the moving picture of a molecular bond, in phase-space, in real-time, at resolution limited by quantum uncertainty. The images are tomographically reconstructed Wigner distribution functions (WDF) obtained from four-wave mixing measurements on Br2-doped ice. The WDF completely characterizes the dissipative quantum evolution of the system, which despite coupling to the environment retains quantum coherence, as evidenced by its persistent negative Wigner hole. The spectral decomposition of the WDF allows a direct visualization of wavefunctions and spatiotemporal coherences of the system and the system-bath interaction. The measurements vividly illustrate nonclassical wave mechanics in a many-body system, in ordinary condensed matter.

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.

Gaussian-modulated coherent-state measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Xiang-Chun; Sun, Shi-Hai; Jiang, Mu-Sheng; Gui, Ming; Liang, Lin-Mei

2014-04-01

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD), leaving the detection procedure to the third partner and thus being immune to all detector side-channel attacks, is very promising for the construction of high-security quantum information networks. We propose a scheme to implement MDI-QKD, but with continuous variables instead of discrete ones, i.e., with the source of Gaussian-modulated coherent states, based on the principle of continuous-variable entanglement swapping. This protocol not only can be implemented with current telecom components but also has high key rates compared to its discrete counterpart; thus it will be highly compatible with quantum networks.

Quantum memory operations in a flux qubit - spin ensemble hybrid system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saito, S.; Zhu, X.; Amsuss, R.; Matsuzaki, Y.; Kakuyanagi, K.; Shimo-Oka, T.; Mizuochi, N.; Nemoto, K.; Munro, W. J.; Semba, K.

2014-03-01

Superconducting quantum bits (qubits) are one of the most promising candidates for a future large-scale quantum processor. However for larger scale realizations the currently reported coherence times of these macroscopic objects (superconducting qubits) has not yet reached those of microscopic systems (electron spins, nuclear spins, etc). In this context, a superconductor-spin ensemble hybrid system has attracted considerable attention. The spin ensemble could operate as a quantum memory for superconducting qubits. We have experimentally demonstrated quantum memory operations in a superconductor-diamond hybrid system. An excited state and a superposition state prepared in the flux qubit can be transferred to, stored in and retrieved from the NV spin ensemble in diamond. From these experiments, we have found the coherence time of the spin ensemble is limited by the inhomogeneous broadening of the electron spin (4.4 MHz) and by the hyperfine coupling to nitrogen nuclear spins (2.3 MHz). In the future, spin echo techniques could eliminate these effects and elongate the coherence time. Our results are a significant first step in utilizing the spin ensemble as long-lived quantum memory for superconducting flux qubits. This work was supported by the FIRST program and NICT.

A Theoretical Mechanism of Szilard Engine Function in Nucleic Acids and the Implications for Quantum Coherence in Biological Systems

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

Matthew Mihelic, F.

2010-12-22

Nucleic acids theoretically possess a Szilard engine function that can convert the energy associated with the Shannon entropy of molecules for which they have coded recognition, into the useful work of geometric reconfiguration of the nucleic acid molecule. This function is logically reversible because its mechanism is literally and physically constructed out of the information necessary to reduce the Shannon entropy of such molecules, which means that this information exists on both sides of the theoretical engine, and because information is retained in the geometric degrees of freedom of the nucleic acid molecule, a quantum gate is formed through whichmore » multi-state nucleic acid qubits can interact. Entangled biophotons emitted as a consequence of symmetry breaking nucleic acid Szilard engine (NASE) function can be used to coordinate relative positioning of different nucleic acid locations, both within and between cells, thus providing the potential for quantum coherence of an entire biological system. Theoretical implications of understanding biological systems as such 'quantum adaptive systems' include the potential for multi-agent based quantum computing, and a better understanding of systemic pathologies such as cancer, as being related to a loss of systemic quantum coherence.« less

A Theoretical Mechanism of Szilard Engine Function in Nucleic Acids and the Implications for Quantum Coherence in Biological Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matthew Mihelic, F.

2010-12-01

Nucleic acids theoretically possess a Szilard engine function that can convert the energy associated with the Shannon entropy of molecules for which they have coded recognition, into the useful work of geometric reconfiguration of the nucleic acid molecule. This function is logically reversible because its mechanism is literally and physically constructed out of the information necessary to reduce the Shannon entropy of such molecules, which means that this information exists on both sides of the theoretical engine, and because information is retained in the geometric degrees of freedom of the nucleic acid molecule, a quantum gate is formed through which multi-state nucleic acid qubits can interact. Entangled biophotons emitted as a consequence of symmetry breaking nucleic acid Szilard engine (NASE) function can be used to coordinate relative positioning of different nucleic acid locations, both within and between cells, thus providing the potential for quantum coherence of an entire biological system. Theoretical implications of understanding biological systems as such "quantum adaptive systems" include the potential for multi-agent based quantum computing, and a better understanding of systemic pathologies such as cancer, as being related to a loss of systemic quantum coherence.

Demonstration of two-qubit algorithms with a superconducting quantum processor.

PubMed

DiCarlo, L; Chow, J M; Gambetta, J M; Bishop, Lev S; Johnson, B R; Schuster, D I; Majer, J; Blais, A; Frunzio, L; Girvin, S M; Schoelkopf, R J

2009-07-09

Quantum computers, which harness the superposition and entanglement of physical states, could outperform their classical counterparts in solving problems with technological impact-such as factoring large numbers and searching databases. A quantum processor executes algorithms by applying a programmable sequence of gates to an initialized register of qubits, which coherently evolves into a final state containing the result of the computation. Building a quantum processor is challenging because of the need to meet simultaneously requirements that are in conflict: state preparation, long coherence times, universal gate operations and qubit readout. Processors based on a few qubits have been demonstrated using nuclear magnetic resonance, cold ion trap and optical systems, but a solid-state realization has remained an outstanding challenge. Here we demonstrate a two-qubit superconducting processor and the implementation of the Grover search and Deutsch-Jozsa quantum algorithms. We use a two-qubit interaction, tunable in strength by two orders of magnitude on nanosecond timescales, which is mediated by a cavity bus in a circuit quantum electrodynamics architecture. This interaction allows the generation of highly entangled states with concurrence up to 94 per cent. Although this processor constitutes an important step in quantum computing with integrated circuits, continuing efforts to increase qubit coherence times, gate performance and register size will be required to fulfil the promise of a scalable technology.

A Rout to Protect Quantum Gates constructed via quantum walks from Noises.

PubMed

Du, Yi-Mu; Lu, Li-Hua; Li, You-Quan

2018-05-08

The continuous-time quantum walk on a one-dimensional graph of odd number of sites with an on-site potential at the center is studied. We show that such a quantum-walk system can construct an X-gate of a single qubit as well as a control gate for two qubits, when the potential is much larger than the hopping strength. We investigate the decoherence effect and find that the coherence time can be enhanced by either increasing the number of sites on the graph or the ratio of the potential to the hopping strength, which is expected to motivate the design of the quantum gate with long coherence time. We also suggest several experimental proposals to realize such a system.

Coherent controlization using superconducting qubits

PubMed Central

Friis, Nicolai; Melnikov, Alexey A.; Kirchmair, Gerhard; Briegel, Hans J.

2015-01-01

Coherent controlization, i.e., coherent conditioning of arbitrary single- or multi-qubit operations on the state of one or more control qubits, is an important ingredient for the flexible implementation of many algorithms in quantum computation. This is of particular significance when certain subroutines are changing over time or when they are frequently modified, such as in decision-making algorithms for learning agents. We propose a scheme to realize coherent controlization for any number of superconducting qubits coupled to a microwave resonator. For two and three qubits, we present an explicit construction that is of high relevance for quantum learning agents. We demonstrate the feasibility of our proposal, taking into account loss, dephasing, and the cavity self-Kerr effect. PMID:26667893

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

Gangadharan, Dhevan

Recent measurements have revealed a significant suppression of multipion Bose–Einstein correlations in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC. The suppression may be explained by postulating coherent pion emission. Typically, the suppression of Bose–Einstein correlations due to coherence is taken into account with the coherent state formalism in quantum optics. However, since charged pion correlations are most often measured, the additional constraint of isospin conservation, which is absent in quantum optics, needs to be taken into account. As a consequence, correlations emerge between pions of opposite charge. A calculation of the correlations induced by isospin conservation of coherent emission is made formore » two, three- and four-pion correlation functions and compared to the data from the LHC.« less

Superconducting qubit in a waveguide cavity with a coherence time approaching 0.1 ms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rigetti, Chad; Gambetta, Jay M.; Poletto, Stefano; Plourde, B. L. T.; Chow, Jerry M.; Córcoles, A. D.; Smolin, John A.; Merkel, Seth T.; Rozen, J. R.; Keefe, George A.; Rothwell, Mary B.; Ketchen, Mark B.; Steffen, M.

2012-09-01

We report a superconducting artificial atom with a coherence time of T2*=92 μs and energy relaxation time T1=70 μs. The system consists of a single Josephson junction transmon qubit on a sapphire substrate embedded in an otherwise empty copper waveguide cavity whose lowest eigenmode is dispersively coupled to the qubit transition. We attribute the factor of four increase in the coherence quality factor relative to previous reports to device modifications aimed at reducing qubit dephasing from residual cavity photons. This simple device holds promise as a robust and easily produced artificial quantum system whose intrinsic coherence properties are sufficient to allow tests of quantum error correction.

Quantum simulation of a quantum stochastic walk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Govia, Luke C. G.; Taketani, Bruno G.; Schuhmacher, Peter K.; Wilhelm, Frank K.

2017-03-01

The study of quantum walks has been shown to have a wide range of applications in areas such as artificial intelligence, the study of biological processes, and quantum transport. The quantum stochastic walk (QSW), which allows for incoherent movement of the walker, and therefore, directionality, is a generalization on the fully coherent quantum walk. While a QSW can always be described in Lindblad formalism, this does not mean that it can be microscopically derived in the standard weak-coupling limit under the Born-Markov approximation. This restricts the class of QSWs that can be experimentally realized in a simple manner. To circumvent this restriction, we introduce a technique to simulate open system evolution on a fully coherent quantum computer, using a quantum trajectories style approach. We apply this technique to a broad class of QSWs, and show that they can be simulated with minimal experimental resources. Our work opens the path towards the experimental realization of QSWs on large graphs with existing quantum technologies.

Quantum information theory of the Bell-state quantum eraser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glick, Jennifer R.; Adami, Christoph

2017-01-01

Quantum systems can display particle- or wavelike properties, depending on the type of measurement that is performed on them. The Bell-state quantum eraser is an experiment that brings the duality to the forefront, as a single measurement can retroactively be made to measure particlelike or wavelike properties (or anything in between). Here we develop a unitary information-theoretic description of this and several related quantum measurement situations that sheds light on the trade-off between the quantum and classical features of the measurement. In particular, we show that both the coherence of the quantum state and the classical information obtained from it can be described using only quantum-information-theoretic tools and that those two measures satisfy an equality on account of the chain rule for entropies. The coherence information and the which-path information have simple interpretations in terms of state preparation and state determination and suggest ways to account for the relationship between the classical and the quantum world.

Nanophotonic photon echo memory based on rare-earth-doped crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Tian; Kindem, Jonathan; Miyazono, Evan; Faraon, Andrei; Caltech nano quantum optics Team

2015-03-01

Rare earth ions (REIs) are promising candidates for implementing solid-state quantum memories and quantum repeater devices. Their high spectral stability and long coherence times make REIs a good choice for integration in an on-chip quantum nano-photonic platform. We report the coupling of the 883 nm transition of Neodymium (Nd) to a Yttrium orthosilicate (YSO) photonic crystal nano-beam resonator, achieving Purcell enhanced spontaneous emission by 21 times and increased optical absorption. Photon echoes were observed in nano-beams of different doping concentrations, yielding optical coherence times T2 up to 80 μs that are comparable to unprocessed bulk samples. This indicates the remarkable coherence properties of Nd are preserved during nanofabrication, therefore opening the possibility of efficient on-chip optical quantum memories. The nano-resonator with mode volume of 1 . 6(λ / n) 3 was fabricated using focused ion beam, and a quality factor of 3200 was measured. Purcell enhanced absorption of 80% by an ensemble of ~ 1 × 106 ions in the resonator was measured, which fulfills the cavity impedance matching condition that is necessary to achieve quantum storage of photons with unity efficiency.

Quantum Coherence and Random Fields at Mesoscopic Scales

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

Rosenbaum, Thomas F.

2016-03-01

We seek to explore and exploit model, disordered and geometrically frustrated magnets where coherent spin clusters stably detach themselves from their surroundings, leading to extreme sensitivity to finite frequency excitations and the ability to encode information. Global changes in either the spin concentration or the quantum tunneling probability via the application of an external magnetic field can tune the relative weights of quantum entanglement and random field effects on the mesoscopic scale. These same parameters can be harnessed to manipulate domain wall dynamics in the ferromagnetic state, with technological possibilities for magnetic information storage. Finally, extensions from quantum ferromagnets tomore » antiferromagnets promise new insights into the physics of quantum fluctuations and effective dimensional reduction. A combination of ac susceptometry, dc magnetometry, noise measurements, hole burning, non-linear Fano experiments, and neutron diffraction as functions of temperature, magnetic field, frequency, excitation amplitude, dipole concentration, and disorder address issues of stability, overlap, coherence, and control. We have been especially interested in probing the evolution of the local order in the progression from spin liquid to spin glass to long-range-ordered magnet.« less

Long-distance continuous-variable quantum key distribution using non-Gaussian state-discrimination detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liao, Qin; Guo, Ying; Huang, Duan; Huang, Peng; Zeng, Guihua

2018-02-01

We propose a long-distance continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) with a four-state protocol using non-Gaussian state-discrimination detection. A photon subtraction operation, which is deployed at the transmitter, is used for splitting the signal required for generating the non-Gaussian operation to lengthen the maximum transmission distance of the CVQKD. Whereby an improved state-discrimination detector, which can be deemed as an optimized quantum measurement that allows the discrimination of nonorthogonal coherent states beating the standard quantum limit, is applied at the receiver to codetermine the measurement result with the conventional coherent detector. By tactfully exploiting the multiplexing technique, the resulting signals can be simultaneously transmitted through an untrusted quantum channel, and subsequently sent to the state-discrimination detector and coherent detector, respectively. Security analysis shows that the proposed scheme can lengthen the maximum transmission distance up to hundreds of kilometers. Furthermore, by taking the finite-size effect and composable security into account we obtain the tightest bound of the secure distance, which is more practical than that obtained in the asymptotic limit.

A quantum-dot spin qubit with coherence limited by charge noise and fidelity higher than 99.9%

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoneda, Jun; Takeda, Kenta; Otsuka, Tomohiro; Nakajima, Takashi; Delbecq, Matthieu R.; Allison, Giles; Honda, Takumu; Kodera, Tetsuo; Oda, Shunri; Hoshi, Yusuke; Usami, Noritaka; Itoh, Kohei M.; Tarucha, Seigo

2018-02-01

The isolation of qubits from noise sources, such as surrounding nuclear spins and spin-electric susceptibility1-4, has enabled extensions of quantum coherence times in recent pivotal advances towards the concrete implementation of spin-based quantum computation. In fact, the possibility of achieving enhanced quantum coherence has been substantially doubted for nanostructures due to the characteristic high degree of background charge fluctuations5-7. Still, a sizeable spin-electric coupling will be needed in realistic multiple-qubit systems to address single-spin and spin-spin manipulations8-10. Here, we realize a single-electron spin qubit with an isotopically enriched phase coherence time (20 μs)11,12 and fast electrical control speed (up to 30 MHz) mediated by extrinsic spin-electric coupling. Using rapid spin rotations, we reveal that the free-evolution dephasing is caused by charge noise—rather than conventional magnetic noise—as highlighted by a 1/f spectrum extended over seven decades of frequency. The qubit exhibits superior performance with single-qubit gate fidelities exceeding 99.9% on average, offering a promising route to large-scale spin-qubit systems with fault-tolerant controllability.

Dynamic-Stark-effect-induced coherent mixture of virtual paths in laser-dressed helium: energetic electron impact excitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agueny, Hicham; Makhoute, Abdelkader; Dubois, Alain

2017-06-01

We theoretically investigate quantum virtual path interference caused by the dynamic Stark effect in bound-bound electronic transitions. The effect is studied in an intermediate resonant region and in connection with the energetic electron impact excitation of a helium atom embedded in a weak low-frequency laser field. The process under investigation is dealt with via a Born-Floquet approach. Numerical calculations show a resonant feature in laser-assisted cross sections. The latter is found to be sensitive to the intensity of the laser field dressing. We show that this feature is a signature of quantum beats which result from the coherent mixture of different quantum virtual pathways, and that excitation may follow in order to end up with a common final channel. This mixture arises from the dynamic Stark effect, which produces a set of avoided crossings in laser-dressed states. The effect allows one to coherently control quantum virtual path interference by varying the intensity of the laser field dressing. Our findings suggest that the combination of an energetic electron and a weak laser field is a useful tool for the coherent control of nonadiabatic transitions in an intermediate resonant region.

Time-optimal excitation of maximum quantum coherence: Physical limits and pulse sequences

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

Köcher, S. S.; Institute of Energy and Climate Research; Heydenreich, T.

Here we study the optimum efficiency of the excitation of maximum quantum (MaxQ) coherence using analytical and numerical methods based on optimal control theory. The theoretical limit of the achievable MaxQ amplitude and the minimum time to achieve this limit are explored for a set of model systems consisting of up to five coupled spins. In addition to arbitrary pulse shapes, two simple pulse sequence families of practical interest are considered in the optimizations. Compared to conventional approaches, substantial gains were found both in terms of the achieved MaxQ amplitude and in pulse sequence durations. For a model system, theoreticallymore » predicted gains of a factor of three compared to the conventional pulse sequence were experimentally demonstrated. Motivated by the numerical results, also two novel analytical transfer schemes were found: Compared to conventional approaches based on non-selective pulses and delays, double-quantum coherence in two-spin systems can be created twice as fast using isotropic mixing and hard spin-selective pulses. Also it is proved that in a chain of three weakly coupled spins with the same coupling constants, triple-quantum coherence can be created in a time-optimal fashion using so-called geodesic pulses.« less

Emergence of Quantum Phase-Slip Behaviour in Superconducting NbN Nanowires: DC Electrical Transport and Fabrication Technologies.

PubMed

Constantino, Nicolas G N; Anwar, Muhammad Shahbaz; Kennedy, Oscar W; Dang, Manyu; Warburton, Paul A; Fenton, Jonathan C

2018-06-16

Superconducting nanowires undergoing quantum phase-slips have potential for impact in electronic devices, with a high-accuracy quantum current standard among a possible toolbox of novel components. A key element of developing such technologies is to understand the requirements for, and control the production of, superconducting nanowires that undergo coherent quantum phase-slips. We present three fabrication technologies, based on using electron-beam lithography or neon focussed ion-beam lithography, for defining narrow superconducting nanowires, and have used these to create nanowires in niobium nitride with widths in the range of 20⁻250 nm. We present characterisation of the nanowires using DC electrical transport at temperatures down to 300 mK. We demonstrate that a range of different behaviours may be obtained in different nanowires, including bulk-like superconducting properties with critical-current features, the observation of phase-slip centres and the observation of zero conductance below a critical voltage, characteristic of coherent quantum phase-slips. We observe critical voltages up to 5 mV, an order of magnitude larger than other reports to date. The different prominence of quantum phase-slip effects in the various nanowires may be understood as arising from the differing importance of quantum fluctuations. Control of the nanowire properties will pave the way for routine fabrication of coherent quantum phase-slip nanowire devices for technology applications.

Molecular controlled of quantum nano systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paltiel, Yossi

2014-03-01

A century ago quantum mechanics created a conceptual revolution whose fruits are now seen in almost any aspect of our day-to-day life. Lasers, transistors and other solid state and optical devices represent the core technology of current computers, memory devices and communication systems. However, all these examples do not exploit fully the quantum revolution as they do not take advantage of the coherent wave-like properties of the quantum wave function. Controlled coherent system and devices at ambient temperatures are challenging to realize. We are developing a novel nano tool box with control coupling between the quantum states and the environment. This tool box that combines nano particles with organic molecules enables the integration of quantum properties with classical existing devices at ambient temperatures. The nano particles generate the quantum states while the organic molecules control the coupling and therefore the energy, charge, spin, or quasi particle transfer between the layers. Coherent effects at ambient temperatures can be measured in the strong coupling regime. In the talk I will present our nano tool box and show studies of charge transfer, spin transfer and energy transfer in the hybrid layers as well as collective transfer phenomena. These enable the realization of room temperature operating quantum electro optical devices. For example I will present in details, our recent development of a new type of chiral molecules based magnetless universal memory exploiting selective spin transfer.

Recovering full coherence in a qubit by measuring half of its environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miatto, Filippo M.; Piché, Kevin; Brougham, Thomas; Boyd, Robert W.

2015-12-01

When a quantum system interacts with its environment it may incur in decoherence. Quantum erasure makes it possible to restore coherence in a system by gaining information about its environment, but measuring the whole of it may be prohibitive: Realistically, one might be forced to address only an accessible subspace and neglect the rest. In such a case, under what conditions will quantum erasure still be effective? In this work we compute analytically the largest recoverable coherence of a random qubit plus environment state and we show that it approaches 100% with overwhelmingly high probability as long as the dimension of the accessible subspace of the environment is larger than √{D }, where D is the dimension of the whole environment. Additionally, we find a sharp transition between a linear behavior and a power-law behavior as soon as the dimension of the inaccessible environment exceeds the dimension of the accessible one. Our results imply that the typical states of a qubit plus environment system admit a measurement spanning only about √{D } degrees of freedom, any outcome of which projects the qubit on a maximally coherent state. This suggests, for instance, that in the dynamics of open quantum systems, if the interactions are known, it would in principle be possible to gain sufficient information and restore coherence in a qubit by dealing with a fraction of the physical resources.

Spin Entanglement Witness for Quantum Gravity.

PubMed

Bose, Sougato; Mazumdar, Anupam; Morley, Gavin W; Ulbricht, Hendrik; Toroš, Marko; Paternostro, Mauro; Geraci, Andrew A; Barker, Peter F; Kim, M S; Milburn, Gerard

2017-12-15

Understanding gravity in the framework of quantum mechanics is one of the great challenges in modern physics. However, the lack of empirical evidence has lead to a debate on whether gravity is a quantum entity. Despite varied proposed probes for quantum gravity, it is fair to say that there are no feasible ideas yet to test its quantum coherent behavior directly in a laboratory experiment. Here, we introduce an idea for such a test based on the principle that two objects cannot be entangled without a quantum mediator. We show that despite the weakness of gravity, the phase evolution induced by the gravitational interaction of two micron size test masses in adjacent matter-wave interferometers can detectably entangle them even when they are placed far apart enough to keep Casimir-Polder forces at bay. We provide a prescription for witnessing this entanglement, which certifies gravity as a quantum coherent mediator, through simple spin correlation measurements.

Spin Entanglement Witness for Quantum Gravity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bose, Sougato; Mazumdar, Anupam; Morley, Gavin W.; Ulbricht, Hendrik; Toroš, Marko; Paternostro, Mauro; Geraci, Andrew A.; Barker, Peter F.; Kim, M. S.; Milburn, Gerard

2017-12-01

Understanding gravity in the framework of quantum mechanics is one of the great challenges in modern physics. However, the lack of empirical evidence has lead to a debate on whether gravity is a quantum entity. Despite varied proposed probes for quantum gravity, it is fair to say that there are no feasible ideas yet to test its quantum coherent behavior directly in a laboratory experiment. Here, we introduce an idea for such a test based on the principle that two objects cannot be entangled without a quantum mediator. We show that despite the weakness of gravity, the phase evolution induced by the gravitational interaction of two micron size test masses in adjacent matter-wave interferometers can detectably entangle them even when they are placed far apart enough to keep Casimir-Polder forces at bay. We provide a prescription for witnessing this entanglement, which certifies gravity as a quantum coherent mediator, through simple spin correlation measurements.

Conformational heterogeneity in the C-terminal zinc fingers of human MTF-1: an NMR and zinc-binding study.

PubMed

Giedroc, D P; Chen, X; Pennella, M A; LiWang, A C

2001-11-09

The human metalloregulatory transcription factor, metal-response element (MRE)-binding transcription factor-1 (MTF-1), contains six TFIIIA-type Cys(2)-His(2) motifs, each of which was projected to form well-structured betabetaalpha domains upon Zn(II) binding. In this report, the structure and backbone dynamics of a fragment containing the unusual C-terminal fingers F4-F6 has been investigated. (15)N heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) spectra of uniformly (15)N-labeled hMTF-zf46 show that Zn(II) induces the folding of hMTF-zf46. Analysis of the secondary structure of Zn(3) hMTF-zf46 determined by (13)Calpha chemical shift indexing and the magnitude of (3)J(Halpha-HN) clearly reveal that zinc fingers F4 and F6 adopt typical betabetaalpha structures. An analysis of the heteronuclear backbone (15)N relaxation dynamics behavior is consistent with this picture and further reveals independent tumbling of the finger domains in solution. Titration of apo-MTF-zf46 with Zn(II) reveals that the F4 domain binds Zn(II) significantly more tightly than do the other two finger domains. In contrast to fingers F4 and F6, the betabetaalpha fold of finger F5 is unstable and only partially populated at substoichiometric Zn(II); a slight molar excess of zinc results in severe conformational exchange broadening of all F5 NH cross-peaks. Finally, although Cd(II) binds to apo-hMTF-zf46 as revealed by intense S(-)-->Cd(II) absorption, a non-native structure results; addition of stoichiometric Zn(II) to the Cd(II) complex results in quantitative refolding of the betabetaalpha structure in F4 and F6. The functional implications of these results are discussed.

Identification of critical residues of subunit H in its interaction with subunit E of the A-ATP synthase from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii.

PubMed

Gayen, Shovanlal; Balakrishna, Asha M; Biuković, Goran; Yulei, Wu; Hunke, Cornelia; Grüber, Gerhard

2008-04-01

The boomerang-like H subunit of A(1)A(0) ATP synthase forms one of the peripheral stalks connecting the A(1) and A(0) sections. Structural analyses of the N-terminal part (H1-47) of subunit H of the A(1)A(0) ATP synthase from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii have been performed by NMR spectroscopy. Our initial NMR structural calculations for H1-47 indicate that amino acid residues 7-44 fold into a single alpha-helical structure. Using the purified N- (E1-100) and C-terminal domains (E101-206) of subunit E, NMR titration experiments revealed that the N-terminal residues Met1-6, Lys10, Glu11, Ala15, Val20 and Glu24 of H1-47 interact specifically with the N-terminal domain E1-100 of subunit E. A more detailed picture regarding the residues of E1-100 involved in this association was obtained by titration studies using the N-terminal peptides E1-20, E21-40 and E41-60. These data indicate that the N-terminal tail E41-60 interacts with the N-terminal amino acids of H1-47, and this has been confirmed by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy results. Analysis of (1)H-(15)N heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) spectra of the central stalk subunit F in the presence and absence of E101-206 show no obvious interaction between the C-terminal domain of E and subunit F. The data presented provide, for the first time, structural insights into the interaction of subunits E and H, and their arrangement within A(1)A(0) ATP synthase.

Anthrax Toxin Receptor 1 / Tumor Endothelial Marker 8: Mutation of Conserved Inserted Domain Residues Overrides Cytosolic Control of Protective Antigen Binding†

PubMed Central

Ramey, Jordan D.; Villareal, Valerie A.; Ng, Charles; Ward, Sabrina; Xiong, Jian-Ping; Clubb, Robert T.; Bradley, Kenneth A.

2010-01-01

Anthrax toxin receptor 1 (ANTXR1) / tumor endothelial marker 8 (TEM8) is one of two known proteinaceous cell surface anthrax toxin receptors. A metal ion dependent adhesion site (MIDAS) present in the integrin-like inserted (I) domain of ANTXR1 mediates the binding of the anthrax toxin subunit, protective antigen (PA). Here we provide evidence that single point mutations in the I domain can override regulation of ANTXR1 ligand-binding activity mediated by intracellular signals. A previously reported MIDAS-mutant of ANTXR1 (T118A) was found to retain normal metal ion binding and secondary structure but failed to bind PA, consistent with a locked inactive state. Conversely, mutation of a conserved I domain phenylalanine residue to a tryptophan (F205W) increased the proportion of cell-surface ANTXR1 that bound PA, consistent with a locked active state. Interestingly, the KD and total amount of PA bound by the isolated ANTXR1 I domain was not affected by the F205W mutation, indicating that ANTXR1 is preferentially found in the active state in the absence of inside-out signaling. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy and 1H-15N heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) revealed that structural changes between T118A, F205W and WT I domains were minor despite a greater than 103-fold difference in their abilities to bind toxin. Regulation of toxin binding has important implications for the design of toxin inhibitors and for the targeting of ANTXR1 for anti-tumor therapies. PMID:20690680

Structural characterization by NMR of the natively unfolded extracellular domain of beta-dystroglycan: toward the identification of the binding epitope for alpha-dystroglycan.

PubMed

Bozzi, Manuela; Bianchi, Marzia; Sciandra, Francesca; Paci, Maurizio; Giardina, Bruno; Brancaccio, Andrea; Cicero, Daniel O

2003-11-25

Dystroglycan (DG) is an adhesion molecule playing a crucial role for tissue stability during both early embriogenesis and adulthood and is composed by two tightly interacting subunits: alpha-DG, membrane-associated and highly glycosylated, and the transmembrane beta-DG. Recently, by solid-phase binding assays and NMR experiments, we have shown that the C-terminal domain of alpha-DG interacts with a recombinant extracellular fragment of beta-DG (positions 654-750) independently from glycosylation and that the linear binding epitope is located between residues 550 and 565 of alpha-DG. In order to elucidate which moieties of beta-DG are specifically involved in the complex with alpha-DG, the ectodomain has been recombinantly expressed and purified in a labeled ((13)C,(15)N) form and studied by multidimensional NMR. Although it represents a natively unfolded protein domain, we obtained an almost complete backbone assignment. Chemical shift index, (1)H-(15)N heteronuclear single-quantum coherence and nuclear Overhauser effect (HSQC-NOESY) spectra and (3)J(HN,H)(alpha) coupling constant values confirm that this protein is highly disordered, but (1)H-(15)N steady-state NOE experiments indicate that the protein presents two regions of different mobility. The first one, between residues 659 and 722, is characterized by a limited degree of mobility, whereas the C-terminal portion, containing about 30 amino acids, is highly flexible. The binding of beta-DG(654-750) to the C-terminal region of the alpha subunit, alpha-DG(485-620), has been investigated, showing that the region of beta-DG(654-750) between residues 691 and 719 is involved in the interaction.

Temperature response of litter and soil organic matter decomposition is determined by chemical composition of organic material.

PubMed

Erhagen, Björn; Öquist, Mats; Sparrman, Tobias; Haei, Mahsa; Ilstedt, Ulrik; Hedenström, Mattias; Schleucher, Jürgen; Nilsson, Mats B

2013-12-01

The global soil carbon pool is approximately three times larger than the contemporary atmospheric pool, therefore even minor changes to its integrity may have major implications for atmospheric CO2 concentrations. While theory predicts that the chemical composition of organic matter should constitute a master control on the temperature response of its decomposition, this relationship has not yet been fully demonstrated. We used laboratory incubations of forest soil organic matter (SOM) and fresh litter material together with NMR spectroscopy to make this connection between organic chemical composition and temperature sensitivity of decomposition. Temperature response of decomposition in both fresh litter and SOM was directly related to the chemical composition of the constituent organic matter, explaining 90% and 70% of the variance in Q10 in litter and SOM, respectively. The Q10 of litter decreased with increasing proportions of aromatic and O-aromatic compounds, and increased with increased contents of alkyl- and O-alkyl carbons. In contrast, in SOM, decomposition was affected only by carbonyl compounds. To reveal why a certain group of organic chemical compounds affected the temperature sensitivity of organic matter decomposition in litter and SOM, a more detailed characterization of the (13) C aromatic region using Heteronuclear Single Quantum Coherence (HSQC) was conducted. The results revealed considerable differences in the aromatic region between litter and SOM. This suggests that the correlation between chemical composition of organic matter and the temperature response of decomposition differed between litter and SOM. The temperature response of soil decomposition processes can thus be described by the chemical composition of its constituent organic matter, this paves the way for improved ecosystem modeling of biosphere feedbacks under a changing climate. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Charge effects in the selection of NPF motifs by the EH domain of EHD1.

PubMed

Henry, Gillian D; Corrigan, Daniel J; Dineen, Joseph V; Baleja, James D

2010-04-27

The Eps15 homology (EH) domain is found in proteins associated with endocytosis and vesicle trafficking. EH domains bind to their target proteins through an asparagine-proline-phenylalanine (NPF) motif. We have measured the interaction energetics of the EH domain from EHD1 with peptides derived from two of its binding partners: Rabenosyn-5 (Ac-GPSLNPFDEED-NH(2)) and Rab11-Fip2 (Ac-YESTNPFTAK-NH(2)). Heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) spectroscopy shows that both peptides bind in the canonical binding pocket of EHD1 EH and induce identical structural changes, yet the affinity of the negatively charged Ac-GPSLNPFDEED-NH(2) (K(a) = 8 x 10(5) M(-1)) is tighter by 2 orders of magnitude. The thermodynamic profiles (DeltaG, DeltaH, DeltaS) were measured for both peptides as a function of temperature. The enthalpies of binding are essentially identical, and the difference in affinity is a consequence of the difference in entropic cost. Ac-GPSLNPFDEED-NH(2) binding is salt-dependent, demonstrating an electrostatic component to the interaction, whereas Ac-YESTNPFTAK-NH(2) binding is independent of salt. Successive replacement of acidic residues in Ac-GPSLNPFDEED-NH(2) with neutral residues showed that all are important. Lysine side chains in EHD1 EH create a region of strong positive surface potential near the NPF binding pocket. Contributions by lysine epsilon-amino groups to complex formation with Ac-GPSLNPFDEED-NH(2) was shown using direct-observe (15)N NMR spectroscopy. These experiments have enabled us to define a new extended interaction motif for EHD proteins, N-P-F-[DE]-[DE]-[DE], which we have used to predict new interaction partners and hence broaden the range of cellular activities involving the EHD proteins.

Quantification of Lignin and Its Structural Features in Plant Biomass Using 13C Lignin as Internal Standard for Pyrolysis-GC-SIM-MS.

PubMed

van Erven, Gijs; de Visser, Ries; Merkx, Donny W H; Strolenberg, Willem; de Gijsel, Peter; Gruppen, Harry; Kabel, Mirjam A

2017-10-17

Understanding the mechanisms underlying plant biomass recalcitrance at the molecular level can only be achieved by accurate analyses of both the content and structural features of the molecules involved. Current quantification of lignin is, however, majorly based on unspecific gravimetric analysis after sulfuric acid hydrolysis. Hence, our research aimed at specific lignin quantification with concurrent characterization of its structural features. Hereto, for the first time, a polymeric 13 C lignin was used as internal standard (IS) for lignin quantification via analytical pyrolysis coupled to gas chromatography with mass-spectrometric detection in selected ion monitoring mode (py-GC-SIM-MS). In addition, relative response factors (RRFs) for the various pyrolysis products obtained were determined and applied. First, 12 C and 13 C lignin were isolated from nonlabeled and uniformly 13 C labeled wheat straw, respectively, and characterized by heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and py-GC/MS. The two lignin isolates were found to have identical structures. Second, 13 C-IS based lignin quantification by py-GC-SIM-MS was validated in reconstituted biomass model systems with known contents of the 12 C lignin analogue and was shown to be extremely accurate (>99.9%, R 2 > 0.999) and precise (RSD < 1.5%). Third, 13 C-IS based lignin quantification was applied to four common poaceous biomass sources (wheat straw, barley straw, corn stover, and sugar cane bagasse), and lignin contents were in good agreement with the total gravimetrically determined lignin contents. Our robust method proves to be a promising alternative for the high-throughput quantification of lignin in milled biomass samples directly and simultaneously provides a direct insight into the structural features of lignin.

Quantification of Lignin and Its Structural Features in Plant Biomass Using 13C Lignin as Internal Standard for Pyrolysis-GC-SIM-MS

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Understanding the mechanisms underlying plant biomass recalcitrance at the molecular level can only be achieved by accurate analyses of both the content and structural features of the molecules involved. Current quantification of lignin is, however, majorly based on unspecific gravimetric analysis after sulfuric acid hydrolysis. Hence, our research aimed at specific lignin quantification with concurrent characterization of its structural features. Hereto, for the first time, a polymeric 13C lignin was used as internal standard (IS) for lignin quantification via analytical pyrolysis coupled to gas chromatography with mass-spectrometric detection in selected ion monitoring mode (py-GC-SIM-MS). In addition, relative response factors (RRFs) for the various pyrolysis products obtained were determined and applied. First, 12C and 13C lignin were isolated from nonlabeled and uniformly 13C labeled wheat straw, respectively, and characterized by heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and py-GC/MS. The two lignin isolates were found to have identical structures. Second, 13C-IS based lignin quantification by py-GC-SIM-MS was validated in reconstituted biomass model systems with known contents of the 12C lignin analogue and was shown to be extremely accurate (>99.9%, R2 > 0.999) and precise (RSD < 1.5%). Third, 13C-IS based lignin quantification was applied to four common poaceous biomass sources (wheat straw, barley straw, corn stover, and sugar cane bagasse), and lignin contents were in good agreement with the total gravimetrically determined lignin contents. Our robust method proves to be a promising alternative for the high-throughput quantification of lignin in milled biomass samples directly and simultaneously provides a direct insight into the structural features of lignin. PMID:28926698

Ibuprofen in mesopores of Mobil Crystalline Material 41 (MCM-41): a deeper understanding.

PubMed

Skorupska, Ewa; Jeziorna, Agata; Paluch, Piotr; Potrzebowski, Marek J

2014-05-05

In this work, we compared two methods (incipient wetness and melting) for the encapsulation of ibuprofen in the pores of Mobil Crystalline Material 41 (MCM-41) through NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy. (1)H NMR spectra were recorded under very fast MAS (sample spinning 60 kHz) conditions in both 1D and 2D mode (NOESY sequence). We also performed (13)C cross-polarization magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) experiments, (13)C single pulse experiments (SPE), and (1)H-(13)C HSQC HR/MAS (heteronuclear single quantum coherence high resolution) HR/MAS correlations. Evaluation of the encapsulation methods included an analysis of the filling factor of the drug into the pores. The stability of Ibu/MCM in an environment of ethanol or water vapor was tested. Our study showed that melting a mixture of Ibu and MCM is a much more efficient method of confining the drug in the pores compared to incipient wetness. The optimal experiments for the former method achieved a filling factor of approximately 60%. We concluded that the major limitation to the applicability of the incipient wetness method (filling factor ca. 20%) is the high affinity of solvent (typically ethanol) for MCM-41. We found that even ethanol vapor can remove Ibu from the pores. When a sample of Ibu/MCM was stored for a few hours in a closed vessel with ethanol vapor, Ibu was transported from the pores to the outer walls of MCM. We observed a similar phenomenon with water vapor, although this process is slower compared to the analogous procedure using ethanol. Our study clearly demonstrates that existing methods used to encapsulate drugs in mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) require reevaluation.

Interferometric visibility and coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biswas, Tanmoy; García Díaz, María; Winter, Andreas

2017-07-01

Recently, the basic concept of quantum coherence (or superposition) has gained a lot of renewed attention, after Baumgratz et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 140401. (doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.140401)), following Åberg (http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0612146), have proposed a resource theoretic approach to quantify it. This has resulted in a large number of papers and preprints exploring various coherence monotones, and debating possible forms for the resource theory. Here, we take the view that the operational foundation of coherence in a state, be it quantum or otherwise wave mechanical, lies in the observation of interference effects. Our approach here is to consider an idealized multi-path interferometer, with a suitable detector, in such a way that the visibility of the interference pattern provides a quantitative expression of the amount of coherence in a given probe state. We present a general framework of deriving coherence measures from visibility, and demonstrate it by analysing several concrete visibility parameters, recovering some known coherence measures and obtaining some new ones.

Robust Multiple-Range Coherent Quantum State Transfer

PubMed Central

Chen, Bing; Peng, Yan-Dong; Li, Yong; Qian, Xiao-Feng

2016-01-01

We propose a multiple-range quantum communication channel to realize coherent two-way quantum state transport with high fidelity. In our scheme, an information carrier (a qubit) and its remote partner are both adiabatically coupled to the same data bus, i.e., an N-site tight-binding chain that has a single defect at the center. At the weak interaction regime, our system is effectively equivalent to a three level system of which a coherent superposition of the two carrier states constitutes a dark state. The adiabatic coupling allows a well controllable information exchange timing via the dark state between the two carriers. Numerical results show that our scheme is robust and efficient under practically inevitable perturbative defects of the data bus as well as environmental dephasing noise. PMID:27364891

Quantum memory receiver for superadditive communication using binary coherent states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klimek, Aleksandra; Jachura, Michał; Wasilewski, Wojciech; Banaszek, Konrad

2016-11-01

We propose a simple architecture based on multimode quantum memories for collective readout of classical information keyed using a pair coherent states, exemplified by the well-known binary phase shift keying format. Such a configuration enables demonstration of the superadditivity effect in classical communication over quantum channels, where the transmission rate becomes enhanced through joint detection applied to multiple channel uses. The proposed scheme relies on the recently introduced idea to prepare Hadamard sequences of input symbols that are mapped by a linear optical transformation onto the pulse position modulation format [Guha, S. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2011, 106, 240502]. We analyze two versions of readout based on direct detection and an optional Dolinar receiver which implements the minimum-error measurement for individual detection of a binary coherent state alphabet.

Quantum memory receiver for superadditive communication using binary coherent states.

PubMed

Klimek, Aleksandra; Jachura, Michał; Wasilewski, Wojciech; Banaszek, Konrad

2016-11-12

We propose a simple architecture based on multimode quantum memories for collective readout of classical information keyed using a pair coherent states, exemplified by the well-known binary phase shift keying format. Such a configuration enables demonstration of the superadditivity effect in classical communication over quantum channels, where the transmission rate becomes enhanced through joint detection applied to multiple channel uses. The proposed scheme relies on the recently introduced idea to prepare Hadamard sequences of input symbols that are mapped by a linear optical transformation onto the pulse position modulation format [Guha, S. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2011 , 106 , 240502]. We analyze two versions of readout based on direct detection and an optional Dolinar receiver which implements the minimum-error measurement for individual detection of a binary coherent state alphabet.

Beating the photon-number-splitting attack in practical quantum cryptography.

PubMed

Wang, Xiang-Bin

2005-06-17

We propose an efficient method to verify the upper bound of the fraction of counts caused by multiphoton pulses in practical quantum key distribution using weak coherent light, given whatever type of Eve's action. The protocol simply uses two coherent states for the signal pulses and vacuum for the decoy pulse. Our verified upper bound is sufficiently tight for quantum key distribution with a very lossy channel, in both the asymptotic and nonasymptotic case. So far our protocol is the only decoy-state protocol that works efficiently for currently existing setups.

Coherent spin transfer between molecularly bridged quantum dots.

PubMed

Ouyang, Min; Awschalom, David D

2003-08-22

Femtosecond time-resolved Faraday rotation spectroscopy reveals the instantaneous transfer of spin coherence through conjugated molecular bridges spanning quantum dots of different size over a broad range of temperature. The room-temperature spin-transfer efficiency is approximately 20%, showing that conjugated molecules can be used not only as interconnections for the hierarchical assembly of functional networks but also as efficient spin channels. The results suggest that this class of structures may be useful as two-spin quantum devices operating at ambient temperatures and may offer promising opportunities for future versatile molecule-based spintronic technologies.

Phase Space Tweezers for Tailoring Cavity Fields by Quantum Zeno Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raimond, J. M.; Sayrin, C.; Gleyzes, S.; Dotsenko, I.; Brune, M.; Haroche, S.; Facchi, P.; Pascazio, S.

2010-11-01

We discuss an implementation of quantum Zeno dynamics in a cavity quantum electrodynamics experiment. By performing repeated unitary operations on atoms coupled to the field, we restrict the field evolution in chosen subspaces of the total Hilbert space. This procedure leads to promising methods for tailoring nonclassical states. We propose to realize “tweezers” picking a coherent field at a point in phase space and moving it towards an arbitrary final position without affecting other nonoverlapping coherent components. These effects could be observed with a state-of-the-art apparatus.

Memory for light as a quantum process.

PubMed

Lobino, M; Kupchak, C; Figueroa, E; Lvovsky, A I

2009-05-22

We report complete characterization of an optical memory based on electromagnetically induced transparency. We recover the superoperator associated with the memory, under two different working conditions, by means of a quantum process tomography technique that involves storage of coherent states and their characterization upon retrieval. In this way, we can predict the quantum state retrieved from the memory for any input, for example, the squeezed vacuum or the Fock state. We employ the acquired superoperator to verify the nonclassicality benchmark for the storage of a Gaussian distributed set of coherent states.

Quantum-optical coherence tomography with classical light.

PubMed

Lavoie, J; Kaltenbaek, R; Resch, K J

2009-03-02

Quantum-optical coherence tomography (Q-OCT) is an interferometric technique for axial imaging offering several advantages over conventional methods. Chirped-pulse interferometry (CPI) was recently demonstrated to exhibit all of the benefits of the quantum interferometer upon which Q-OCT is based. Here we use CPI to measure axial interferograms to profile a sample accruing the important benefits of Q-OCT, including automatic dispersion cancellation, but with 10 million times higher signal. Our technique solves the artifact problem in Q-OCT and highlights the power of classical correlation in optical imaging.

Recurrent neural network approach to quantum signal: coherent state restoration for continuous-variable quantum key distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Weizhao; Huang, Chunhui; Hou, Kun; Shi, Liting; Zhao, Huihui; Li, Zhengmei; Qiu, Jianfeng

2018-05-01

In continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD), weak signal carrying information transmits from Alice to Bob; during this process it is easily influenced by unknown noise which reduces signal-to-noise ratio, and strongly impacts reliability and stability of the communication. Recurrent quantum neural network (RQNN) is an artificial neural network model which can perform stochastic filtering without any prior knowledge of the signal and noise. In this paper, a modified RQNN algorithm with expectation maximization algorithm is proposed to process the signal in CV-QKD, which follows the basic rule of quantum mechanics. After RQNN, noise power decreases about 15 dBm, coherent signal recognition rate of RQNN is 96%, quantum bit error rate (QBER) drops to 4%, which is 6.9% lower than original QBER, and channel capacity is notably enlarged.

Bath-induced correlations in an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nizama, Marco; Cáceres, Manuel O.

2017-09-01

Quantum correlations between two free spinless dissipative distinguishable particles (interacting with a thermal bath) are studied analytically using the quantum master equation and tools of quantum information. Bath-induced coherence and correlations in an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space are shown. We show that for temperature T> 0 the time-evolution of the reduced density matrix cannot be written as the direct product of two independent particles. We have found a time-scale that characterizes the time when the bath-induced coherence is maximum before being wiped out by dissipation (purity, relative entropy, spatial dispersion, and mirror correlations are studied). The Wigner function associated to the Wannier lattice (where the dissipative quantum walks move) is studied as an indirect measure of the induced correlations among particles. We have supported the quantum character of the correlations by analyzing the geometric quantum discord.

Optically controlled locking of the nuclear field via coherent dark-state spectroscopy.

PubMed

Xu, Xiaodong; Yao, Wang; Sun, Bo; Steel, Duncan G; Bracker, Allan S; Gammon, Daniel; Sham, L J

2009-06-25

A single electron or hole spin trapped inside a semiconductor quantum dot forms the foundation for many proposed quantum logic devices. In group III-V materials, the resonance and coherence between two ground states of the single spin are inevitably affected by the lattice nuclear spins through the hyperfine interaction, while the dynamics of the single spin also influence the nuclear environment. Recent efforts have been made to protect the coherence of spins in quantum dots by suppressing the nuclear spin fluctuations. However, coherent control of a single spin in a single dot with simultaneous suppression of the nuclear fluctuations has yet to be achieved. Here we report the suppression of nuclear field fluctuations in a singly charged quantum dot to well below the thermal value, as shown by an enhancement of the single electron spin dephasing time T(2)*, which we measure using coherent dark-state spectroscopy. The suppression of nuclear fluctuations is found to result from a hole-spin assisted dynamic nuclear spin polarization feedback process, where the stable value of the nuclear field is determined only by the laser frequencies at fixed laser powers. This nuclear field locking is further demonstrated in a three-laser measurement, indicating a possible enhancement of the electron spin T(2)* by a factor of several hundred. This is a simple and powerful method of enhancing the electron spin coherence time without use of 'spin echo'-type techniques. We expect that our results will enable the reproducible preparation of the nuclear spin environment for repetitive control and measurement of a single spin with minimal statistical broadening.

Entanglement of spin waves among four quantum memories.

PubMed

Choi, K S; Goban, A; Papp, S B; van Enk, S J; Kimble, H J

2010-11-18

Quantum networks are composed of quantum nodes that interact coherently through quantum channels, and open a broad frontier of scientific opportunities. For example, a quantum network can serve as a 'web' for connecting quantum processors for computation and communication, or as a 'simulator' allowing investigations of quantum critical phenomena arising from interactions among the nodes mediated by the channels. The physical realization of quantum networks generically requires dynamical systems capable of generating and storing entangled states among multiple quantum memories, and efficiently transferring stored entanglement into quantum channels for distribution across the network. Although such capabilities have been demonstrated for diverse bipartite systems, entangled states have not been achieved for interconnects capable of 'mapping' multipartite entanglement stored in quantum memories to quantum channels. Here we demonstrate measurement-induced entanglement stored in four atomic memories; user-controlled, coherent transfer of the atomic entanglement to four photonic channels; and characterization of the full quadripartite entanglement using quantum uncertainty relations. Our work therefore constitutes an advance in the distribution of multipartite entanglement across quantum networks. We also show that our entanglement verification method is suitable for studying the entanglement order of condensed-matter systems in thermal equilibrium.

MURI Center for Photonic Quantum Information Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-10-16

conversion; solid- state quantum gates based on quantum dots in semiconductors and on NV centers in diamond; quantum memories using optical storage...of our high-speed quantum cryptography systems, and also by continuing to work on quantum information encoding into transverse spatial modes. 14...make use of cavity QED effects for quantum information processing, the quantum dot needs to be addressed coherently . We have probed the QD-cavity

Theoretical study of dynamic electron-spin-polarization via the doublet-quartet quantum-mixed state and time-resolved ESR spectra of the quartet high-spin state.

PubMed

Teki, Yoshio; Matsumoto, Takafumi

2011-04-07

The mechanism of the unique dynamic electron polarization of the quartet (S = 3/2) high-spin state via a doublet-quartet quantum-mixed state and detail theoretical calculations of the population transfer are reported. By the photo-induced electron transfer, the quantum-mixed charge-separate state is generated in acceptor-donor-radical triad (A-D-R). This mechanism explains well the unique dynamic electron polarization of the quartet state of A-D-R. The generation of the selectively populated quantum-mixed state and its transfer to the strongly coupled pure quartet and doublet states have been treated both by a perturbation approach and by exact numerical calculations. The analytical solutions show that generation of the quantum-mixed states with the selective populations after de-coherence and/or accompanying the (complete) dephasing during the charge-recombination are essential for the unique dynamic electron polarization. Thus, the elimination of the quantum coherence (loss of the quantum information) is the key process for the population transfer from the quantum-mixed state to the quartet state. The generation of high-field polarization on the strongly coupled quartet state by the charge-recombination process can be explained by a polarization transfer from the quantum-mixed charge-separate state. Typical time-resolved ESR patterns of the quantum-mixed state and of the strongly coupled quartet state are simulated based on the generation mechanism of the dynamic electron polarization. The dependence of the spectral pattern of the quartet high-spin state has been clarified for the fine-structure tensor and the exchange interaction of the quantum-mixed state. The spectral pattern of the quartet state is not sensitive towards the fine-structure tensor of the quantum-mixed state, because this tensor contributes only as a perturbation in the population transfer to the spin-sublevels of the quartet state. Based on the stochastic Liouville equation, it is also discussed why the selective population in the quantum-mixed state is generated for the "finite field" spin-sublevels. The numerical calculations of the elimination of the quantum coherence (de-coherence and/or dephasing) are demonstrated. A new possibility of the enhanced intersystem crossing pathway in solution is also proposed.

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.

Detailed Chemical Composition of Condensed Tannins via Quantitative (31)P NMR and HSQC Analyses: Acacia catechu, Schinopsis balansae, and Acacia mearnsii.

PubMed

Crestini, Claudia; Lange, Heiko; Bianchetti, Giulia

2016-09-23

The chemical composition of Acacia catechu, Schinopsis balansae, and Acacia mearnsii proanthocyanidins has been determined using a novel analytical approach that rests on the concerted use of quantitative (31)P NMR and two-dimensional heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy. This approach has offered significant detailed information regarding the structure and purity of these complex and often elusive proanthocyanidins. More specifically, rings A, B, and C of their flavan-3-ol units show well-defined and resolved absorbance regions in both the quantitative (31)P NMR and HSQC spectra. By integrating each of these regions in the (31)P NMR spectra, it is possible to identify the oxygenation patterns of the flavan-3-ol units. At the same time it is possible to acquire a fingerprint of the proanthocyanidin sample and evaluate its purity via the HSQC information. This analytical approach is suitable for both the purified natural product proanthocyanidins and their commercial analogues. Overall, this effort demonstrates the power of the concerted use of these two NMR techniques for the structural elucidation of natural products containing labile hydroxy protons and a carbon framework that can be traced out via HSQC.

(3, 2)D 1H, 13C BIRDr,X-HSQC-TOCSY for NMR structure elucidation of mixtures: application to complex carbohydrates.

PubMed

Brodaczewska, Natalia; Košťálová, Zuzana; Uhrín, Dušan

2018-02-01

Overlap of NMR signals is the major cause of difficulties associated with NMR structure elucidation of molecules contained in complex mixtures. A 2D homonuclear correlation spectroscopy in particular suffers from low dispersion of 1 H chemical shifts; larger dispersion of 13 C chemical shifts is often used to reduce this overlap, while still providing the proton-proton correlation information e.g. in the form of a 2D 1 H, 13 C HSQC-TOCSY experiment. For this methodology to work, 13 C chemical shift must be resolved. In case of 13 C chemical shifts overlap, 1 H chemical shifts can be used to achieve the desired resolution. The proposed (3, 2)D 1 H, 13 C BIRD r,X -HSQC-TOCSY experiment achieves this while preserving singlet character of cross peaks in the F 1 dimension. The required high-resolution in the 13 C dimension is thus retained, while the cross peak overlap occurring in a regular HSQC-TOCSY experiment is eliminated. The method is illustrated on the analysis of a complex carbohydrate mixture obtained by depolymerisation of a fucosylated chondroitin sulfate isolated from the body wall of the sea cucumber Holothuria forskali.

14-qubit entanglement: creation and coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barreiro, Julio

2011-05-01

We report the creation of multiparticle entangled states with up to 14 qubits. By investigating the coherence of up to 8 ions over time, we observe a decay proportional to the square of the number of qubits. The observed decay agrees with a theoretical model which assumes a system affected by correlated, Gaussian phase noise. This model holds for the majority of current experimental systems developed towards quantum computation and quantum metrology. We report the creation of multiparticle entangled states with up to 14 qubits. By investigating the coherence of up to 8 ions over time, we observe a decay proportional to the square of the number of qubits. The observed decay agrees with a theoretical model which assumes a system affected by correlated, Gaussian phase noise. This model holds for the majority of current experimental systems developed towards quantum computation and quantum metrology. Work done in collaboration with Thomas Monz, Philipp Schindler, Michael Chwalla, Daniel Nigg, William A. Coish, Maximilian Harlander, Wolfgang Haensel, Markus Hennrich, and Rainer Blatt.

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

Qi, Bing; Lougovski, Pavel; Pooser, Raphael C.

Continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) protocols based on coherent detection have been studied extensively in both theory and experiment. In all the existing implementations of CV-QKD, both the quantum signal and the local oscillator (LO) are generated from the same laser and propagate through the insecure quantum channel. This arrangement may open security loopholes and limit the potential applications of CV-QKD. In our paper, we propose and demonstrate a pilot-aided feedforward data recovery scheme that enables reliable coherent detection using a “locally” generated LO. Using two independent commercial laser sources and a spool of 25-km optical fiber, we construct amore » coherent communication system. The variance of the phase noise introduced by the proposed scheme is measured to be 0.04 (rad 2), which is small enough to enable secure key distribution. This technology opens the door for other quantum communication protocols, such as the recently proposed measurement-device-independent CV-QKD, where independent light sources are employed by different users.« less

Quantum synchronization of many coupled atoms for an ultranarrow linewidth laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Peiru; Xu, Minghui; Tieri, David; Zhu, Bihui; Rey, Ana Maria; Hazzard, Kaden; Holland, Murray

2014-05-01

We theoretically investigate the effect of quantum synchronization on many coupled two-level atoms acting as high quality oscillators. We show that quantum synchronization - the spontaneous alignment of the phase (of the two-level superposition) between different atoms - provides a potential approach to produce robust atomic coherences and coherent light with ultranarrow linewidth and extreme phase stability. The atoms may be coupled either through their direct dipole-dipole interactions or, as in a superradiant laser, through an optical cavity. We develop a variety of analytic and computational approaches for this problem, including exact open quantum system methods for small systems, semiclassical theories, and approaches that make use of the permutation symmetry of identically coupled ensembles. We investigate the first and second order coherence properties of both the optical and atomic degrees of freedom. We study synchronization in both the steady-state, as well as during the dynamically applied pulse sequences of Rabi and Ramsey interferometry. This work was supported by the DARPA QuASAR program, the NSF, and NIST.

Relating quantum privacy and quantum coherence: an operational approach.

PubMed

Devetak, I; Winter, A

2004-08-20

Given many realizations of a state or a channel as a resource, two parties can generate a secret key as well as entanglement. We describe protocols to perform the secret key distillation (as it turns out, with optimal rate). Then we show how to achieve optimal entanglement generation rates by "coherent" implementation of a class of secret key agreement protocols, proving the long-conjectured "hashing inequality."

Fisher information as a generalized measure of coherence in classical and quantum optics.

PubMed

Luis, Alfredo

2012-10-22

We show that metrological resolution in the detection of small phase shifts provides a suitable generalization of the degrees of coherence and polarization. Resolution is estimated via Fisher information. Besides the standard two-beam Gaussian case, this approach provides also good results for multiple field components and nonGaussian statistics. This works equally well in quantum and classical optics.

Quantum coherent switch utilizing commensurate nanoelectrode and charge density periodicities

DOEpatents

Harrison,; Neil, Singleton [Santa Fe, NM; John, Migliori [Los Alamos, NM; Albert, [Santa Fe, NM

2008-08-05

A quantum coherent switch having a substrate formed from a density wave (DW) material capable of having a periodic electron density modulation or spin density modulation, a dielectric layer formed onto a surface of the substrate that is orthogonal to an intrinsic wave vector of the DW material; and structure for applying an external spatially periodic electrostatic potential over the dielectric layer.

Quantum harmonic oscillator in a thermal bath

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zhang, Yuhong

1993-01-01

The influence functional path-integral treatment of quantum Brownian motion is briefly reviewed. A newly derived exact master equation of a quantum harmonic oscillator coupled to a general environment at arbitrary temperature is discussed. It is applied to the problem of loss of quantum coherence.

Measurement-induced entanglement for excitation stored in remote atomic ensembles.

PubMed

Chou, C W; de Riedmatten, H; Felinto, D; Polyakov, S V; van Enk, S J; Kimble, H J

2005-12-08

A critical requirement for diverse applications in quantum information science is the capability to disseminate quantum resources over complex quantum networks. For example, the coherent distribution of entangled quantum states together with quantum memory (for storing the states) can enable scalable architectures for quantum computation, communication and metrology. Here we report observations of entanglement between two atomic ensembles located in distinct, spatially separated set-ups. Quantum interference in the detection of a photon emitted by one of the samples projects the otherwise independent ensembles into an entangled state with one joint excitation stored remotely in 10(5) atoms at each site. After a programmable delay, we confirm entanglement by mapping the state of the atoms to optical fields and measuring mutual coherences and photon statistics for these fields. We thereby determine a quantitative lower bound for the entanglement of the joint state of the ensembles. Our observations represent significant progress in the ability to distribute and store entangled quantum states.

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

Chen, Haixia; Zhang, Jing

We propose a scheme for continuous-variable quantum cloning of coherent states with phase-conjugate input modes using linear optics. The quantum cloning machine yields M identical optimal clones from N replicas of a coherent state and N replicas of its phase conjugate. This scheme can be straightforwardly implemented with the setups accessible at present since its optical implementation only employs simple linear optical elements and homodyne detection. Compared with the original scheme for continuous-variable quantum cloning with phase-conjugate input modes proposed by Cerf and Iblisdir [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 247903 (2001)], which utilized a nondegenerate optical parametric amplifier, our scheme losesmore » the output of phase-conjugate clones and is regarded as irreversible quantum cloning.« less

Higher-order kinetic expansion of quantum dissipative dynamics: mapping quantum networks to kinetic networks.

PubMed

Wu, Jianlan; Cao, Jianshu

2013-07-28

We apply a new formalism to derive the higher-order quantum kinetic expansion (QKE) for studying dissipative dynamics in a general quantum network coupled with an arbitrary thermal bath. The dynamics of system population is described by a time-convoluted kinetic equation, where the time-nonlocal rate kernel is systematically expanded of the order of off-diagonal elements of the system Hamiltonian. In the second order, the rate kernel recovers the expression of the noninteracting-blip approximation method. The higher-order corrections in the rate kernel account for the effects of the multi-site quantum coherence and the bath relaxation. In a quantum harmonic bath, the rate kernels of different orders are analytically derived. As demonstrated by four examples, the higher-order QKE can reliably predict quantum dissipative dynamics, comparing well with the hierarchic equation approach. More importantly, the higher-order rate kernels can distinguish and quantify distinct nontrivial quantum coherent effects, such as long-range energy transfer from quantum tunneling and quantum interference arising from the phase accumulation of interactions.

Quantum-projection-noise-limited interferometry with coherent atoms in a Ramsey-type setup

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

Doering, D.; McDonald, G.; Debs, J. E.

2010-04-15

Every measurement of the population in an uncorrelated ensemble of two-level systems is limited by what is known as the quantum projection noise limit. Here, we present quantum-projection-noise-limited performance of a Ramsey-type interferometer using freely propagating coherent atoms. The experimental setup is based on an electro-optic modulator in an inherently stable Sagnac interferometer, optically coupling the two interfering atomic states via a two-photon Raman transition. Going beyond the quantum projection noise limit requires the use of reduced quantum uncertainty (squeezed) states. The experiment described demonstrates atom interferometry at the fundamental noise level and allows the observation of possible squeezing effectsmore » in an atom laser, potentially leading to improved sensitivity in atom interferometers.« less

Nonequilibrium Langevin approach to quantum optics in semiconductor microcavities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Portolan, S.; di Stefano, O.; Savasta, S.; Rossi, F.; Girlanda, R.

2008-01-01

Recently, the possibility of generating nonclassical polariton states by means of parametric scattering has been demonstrated. Excitonic polaritons propagate in a complex interacting environment and contain real electronic excitations subject to scattering events and noise affecting quantum coherence and entanglement. Here, we present a general theoretical framework for the realistic investigation of polariton quantum correlations in the presence of coherent and incoherent interaction processes. The proposed theoretical approach is based on the nonequilibrium quantum Langevin approach for open systems applied to interacting-electron complexes described within the dynamics controlled truncation scheme. It provides an easy recipe to calculate multitime correlation functions which are key quantities in quantum optics. As a first application, we analyze the buildup of polariton parametric emission in semiconductor microcavities including the influence of noise originating from phonon-induced scattering.

Silicon-Vacancy Spin Qubit in Diamond: A Quantum Memory Exceeding 10 ms with Single-Shot State Readout.

PubMed

Sukachev, D D; Sipahigil, A; Nguyen, C T; Bhaskar, M K; Evans, R E; Jelezko, F; Lukin, M D

2017-12-01

The negatively charged silicon-vacancy (SiV^{-}) color center in diamond has recently emerged as a promising system for quantum photonics. Its symmetry-protected optical transitions enable the creation of indistinguishable emitter arrays and deterministic coupling to nanophotonic devices. Despite this, the longest coherence time associated with its electronic spin achieved to date (∼250  ns) has been limited by coupling to acoustic phonons. We demonstrate coherent control and suppression of phonon-induced dephasing of the SiV^{-} electronic spin coherence by 5 orders of magnitude by operating at temperatures below 500 mK. By aligning the magnetic field along the SiV^{-} symmetry axis, we demonstrate spin-conserving optical transitions and single-shot readout of the SiV^{-} spin with 89% fidelity. Coherent control of the SiV^{-} spin with microwave fields is used to demonstrate a spin coherence time T_{2} of 13 ms and a spin relaxation time T_{1} exceeding 1 s at 100 mK. These results establish the SiV^{-} as a promising solid-state candidate for the realization of quantum networks.

Quantum coherent π-electron rotations in a non-planar chiral molecule induced by using a linearly polarized UV laser pulse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mineo, Hirobumi; Fujimura, Yuichi

2015-06-01

We propose an ultrafast quantum switching method of π-electron rotations, which are switched among four rotational patterns in a nonplanar chiral aromatic molecule (P)-2,2’- biphenol and perform the sequential switching among four rotational patterns which are performed by the overlapped pump-dump laser pulses. Coherent π-electron dynamics are generated by applying the linearly polarized UV pulse laser to create a pair of coherent quasidegenerated excited states. We also plot the time-dependent π-electron ring current, and discussed ring current transfer between two aromatic rings.

Coherent frequency combs produced by self frequency modulation in quantum cascade lasers

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

Khurgin, J. B.; Dikmelik, Y.; Hugi, A.

2014-02-24

One salient characteristic of Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) is its very short τ ∼ 1 ps gain recovery time that so far thwarted the attempts to achieve self-mode locking of the device into a train of single pulses. We show theoretically that four wave mixing, combined with the short gain recovery time causes QCL to operate in the self-frequency-modulated regime characterized by a constant power in time domain and stable coherent comb in the frequency domain. Coherent frequency comb may enable many potential applications of QCL's in sensing and measurement.

Continuous-Variable Measurement-Device-Independent Multipartite Quantum Communication Using Coherent States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Jian; Guo, Ying

2017-02-01

A continuous-variable measurement-device-independent (CV-MDI) multipartite quantum communication protocol is designed to realize multipartite communication based on the GHZ state analysis using Gaussian coherent states. It can remove detector side attack as the multi-mode measurement is blindly done in a suitable Black Box. The entanglement-based CV-MDI multipartite communication scheme and the equivalent prepare-and-measurement scheme are proposed to analyze the security and guide experiment, respectively. The general eavesdropping and coherent attack are considered for the security analysis. Subsequently, all the attacks are ascribed to coherent attack against imperfect links. The asymptotic key rate of the asymmetric configuration is also derived with the numeric simulations illustrating the performance of the proposed protocol.

Quantum optical measurement with tripartite entangled photons generated by triple parametric down-conversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Minhaeng

2018-05-01

Parametric down-conversion is a second-order nonlinear optical process annihilating a pump photon and creating a pair of photons in the signal and idler modes. Then, by using two parametric down-converters and introducing a path indistinguishability for the two generated idler modes, a quantum coherence between two conjugate signal beams can be induced. Such a double spontaneous or stimulated parametric down-conversion scheme has been used to demonstrate quantum spectroscopy and imaging with undetected idler photons via measuring one-photon interference between their correlated signal beams. Recently, we considered another quantum optical measurement scheme utilizing W-type tripartite entangled signal photons that can be generated by employing three spontaneous parametric down-conversion crystals and by inducing coherences or path-indistinguishabilities between their correlated idler beams and between quantum vacuum fields. Here, we consider an extended triple stimulated parametric down-conversion scheme for quantum optical measurement of sample properties with undetected idler and photons. Noting the real effect of vacuum field indistinguishability on the fringe visibility as well as the role of zero-point field energy in the interferometry, we show that this scheme is an ideal and efficient way to create a coherent state of W-type entangled signal photons. We anticipate that this scheme would be of critical use in further developing quantum optical measurements in spectroscopy and microscopy with undetected photons.

Quantum optical measurement with tripartite entangled photons generated by triple parametric down-conversion.

PubMed

Cho, Minhaeng

2018-05-14

Parametric down-conversion is a second-order nonlinear optical process annihilating a pump photon and creating a pair of photons in the signal and idler modes. Then, by using two parametric down-converters and introducing a path indistinguishability for the two generated idler modes, a quantum coherence between two conjugate signal beams can be induced. Such a double spontaneous or stimulated parametric down-conversion scheme has been used to demonstrate quantum spectroscopy and imaging with undetected idler photons via measuring one-photon interference between their correlated signal beams. Recently, we considered another quantum optical measurement scheme utilizing W-type tripartite entangled signal photons that can be generated by employing three spontaneous parametric down-conversion crystals and by inducing coherences or path-indistinguishabilities between their correlated idler beams and between quantum vacuum fields. Here, we consider an extended triple stimulated parametric down-conversion scheme for quantum optical measurement of sample properties with undetected idler and photons. Noting the real effect of vacuum field indistinguishability on the fringe visibility as well as the role of zero-point field energy in the interferometry, we show that this scheme is an ideal and efficient way to create a coherent state of W-type entangled signal photons. We anticipate that this scheme would be of critical use in further developing quantum optical measurements in spectroscopy and microscopy with undetected photons.

Impact of Surface Functionalization on the Quantum Coherence of Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers in Nanodiamonds.

PubMed

Ryan, Robert G; Stacey, Alastair; O'Donnell, Kane M; Ohshima, Takeshi; Johnson, Brett C; Hollenberg, Lloyd C L; Mulvaney, Paul; Simpson, David A

2018-04-18

Nanoscale quantum probes such as the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamonds have demonstrated remarkable sensing capabilities over the past decade as control over fabrication and manipulation of these systems has evolved. The biocompatibility and rich surface chemistry of diamonds has added to the utility of these probes but, as the size of these nanoscale systems is reduced, the surface chemistry of diamond begins to impact the quantum properties of the NV center. In this work, we systematically study the effect of the diamond surface chemistry on the quantum coherence of the NV center in nanodiamonds (NDs) 50 nm in size. Our results show that a borane-reduced diamond surface can on average double the spin relaxation time of individual NV centers in nanodiamonds when compared to thermally oxidized surfaces. Using a combination of infrared and X-ray absorption spectroscopy techniques, we correlate the changes in quantum relaxation rates with the conversion of sp 2 carbon to C-O and C-H bonds on the diamond surface. These findings implicate double-bonded carbon species as a dominant source of spin noise for near surface NV centers. The link between the surface chemistry and quantum coherence indicates that through tailored engineering of the surface, the quantum properties and magnetic sensitivity of these nanoscale systems may approach that observed in bulk diamond.

Relating Out-of-Time-Order Correlations to Entanglement via Multiple-Quantum Coherences.

PubMed

Gärttner, Martin; Hauke, Philipp; Rey, Ana Maria

2018-01-26

Out-of-time-order correlations (OTOCs) characterize the scrambling, or delocalization, of quantum information over all the degrees of freedom of a system and thus have been proposed as a proxy for chaos in quantum systems. Recent experimental progress in measuring OTOCs calls for a more thorough understanding of how these quantities characterize complex quantum systems, most importantly in terms of the buildup of entanglement. Although a connection between OTOCs and entanglement entropy has been derived, the latter only quantifies entanglement in pure systems and is hard to access experimentally. In this work, we formally demonstrate that the multiple-quantum coherence spectra, a specific family of OTOCs well known in NMR, can be used as an entanglement witness and as a direct probe of multiparticle entanglement. Our results open a path to experimentally testing the fascinating idea that entanglement is the underlying glue that links thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and quantum gravity.

Converting multilevel nonclassicality into genuine multipartite entanglement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Regula, Bartosz; Piani, Marco; Cianciaruso, Marco; Bromley, Thomas R.; Streltsov, Alexander; Adesso, Gerardo

2018-03-01

Characterizing genuine quantum resources and determining operational rules for their manipulation are crucial steps to appraise possibilities and limitations of quantum technologies. Two such key resources are nonclassicality, manifested as quantum superposition between reference states of a single system, and entanglement, capturing quantum correlations among two or more subsystems. Here we present a general formalism for the conversion of nonclassicality into multipartite entanglement, showing that a faithful reversible transformation between the two resources is always possible within a precise resource-theoretic framework. Specializing to quantum coherence between the levels of a quantum system as an instance of nonclassicality, we introduce explicit protocols for such a mapping. We further show that the conversion relates multilevel coherence and multipartite entanglement not only qualitatively, but also quantitatively, restricting the amount of entanglement achievable in the process and in particular yielding an equality between the two resources when quantified by fidelity-based geometric measures.

Relating Out-of-Time-Order Correlations to Entanglement via Multiple-Quantum Coherences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gärttner, Martin; Hauke, Philipp; Rey, Ana Maria

2018-01-01

Out-of-time-order correlations (OTOCs) characterize the scrambling, or delocalization, of quantum information over all the degrees of freedom of a system and thus have been proposed as a proxy for chaos in quantum systems. Recent experimental progress in measuring OTOCs calls for a more thorough understanding of how these quantities characterize complex quantum systems, most importantly in terms of the buildup of entanglement. Although a connection between OTOCs and entanglement entropy has been derived, the latter only quantifies entanglement in pure systems and is hard to access experimentally. In this work, we formally demonstrate that the multiple-quantum coherence spectra, a specific family of OTOCs well known in NMR, can be used as an entanglement witness and as a direct probe of multiparticle entanglement. Our results open a path to experimentally testing the fascinating idea that entanglement is the underlying glue that links thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and quantum gravity.

Continuous variable quantum key distribution with modulated entangled states.

PubMed

Madsen, Lars S; Usenko, Vladyslav C; Lassen, Mikael; Filip, Radim; Andersen, Ulrik L

2012-01-01

Quantum key distribution enables two remote parties to grow a shared key, which they can use for unconditionally secure communication over a certain distance. The maximal distance depends on the loss and the excess noise of the connecting quantum channel. Several quantum key distribution schemes based on coherent states and continuous variable measurements are resilient to high loss in the channel, but are strongly affected by small amounts of channel excess noise. Here we propose and experimentally address a continuous variable quantum key distribution protocol that uses modulated fragile entangled states of light to greatly enhance the robustness to channel noise. We experimentally demonstrate that the resulting quantum key distribution protocol can tolerate more noise than the benchmark set by the ideal continuous variable coherent state protocol. Our scheme represents a very promising avenue for extending the distance for which secure communication is possible.

Measurement of the spin temperature of optically cooled nuclei and GaAs hyperfine constants in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chekhovich, E. A.; Ulhaq, A.; Zallo, E.; Ding, F.; Schmidt, O. G.; Skolnick, M. S.

2017-10-01

Deep cooling of electron and nuclear spins is equivalent to achieving polarization degrees close to 100% and is a key requirement in solid-state quantum information technologies. While polarization of individual nuclear spins in diamond and SiC (ref. ) reaches 99% and beyond, it has been limited to 50-65% for the nuclei in quantum dots. Theoretical models have attributed this limit to formation of coherent `dark' nuclear spin states but experimental verification is lacking, especially due to the poor accuracy of polarization degree measurements. Here we measure the nuclear polarization in GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots with high accuracy using a new approach enabled by manipulation of the nuclear spin states with radiofrequency pulses. Polarizations up to 80% are observed--the highest reported so far for optical cooling in quantum dots. This value is still not limited by nuclear coherence effects. Instead we find that optically cooled nuclei are well described within a classical spin temperature framework. Our findings unlock a route for further progress towards quantum dot electron spin qubits where deep cooling of the mesoscopic nuclear spin ensemble is used to achieve long qubit coherence. Moreover, GaAs hyperfine material constants are measured here experimentally for the first time.

Four-electron model for singlet and triplet excitation energy transfers with inclusion of coherence memory, inelastic tunneling and nuclear quantum effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suzuki, Yosuke; Ebina, Kuniyoshi; Tanaka, Shigenori

2016-08-01

A computational scheme to describe the coherent dynamics of excitation energy transfer (EET) in molecular systems is proposed on the basis of generalized master equations with memory kernels. This formalism takes into account those physical effects in electron-bath coupling system such as the spin symmetry of excitons, the inelastic electron tunneling and the quantum features of nuclear motions, thus providing a theoretical framework to perform an ab initio description of EET through molecular simulations for evaluating the spectral density and the temporal correlation function of electronic coupling. Some test calculations have then been carried out to investigate the dependence of exciton population dynamics on coherence memory, inelastic tunneling correlation time, magnitude of electronic coupling, quantum correction to temporal correlation function, reorganization energy and energy gap.

Quantum heat transport of a two-qubit system: Interplay between system-bath coherence and qubit-qubit coherence

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

Kato, Akihito, E-mail: kato@kuchem.kyoto-u.ac.jp; Tanimura, Yoshitaka, E-mail: tanimura@kuchem.kyoto-u.ac.jp

2015-08-14

We consider a system consisting of two interacting qubits that are individually coupled to separate heat baths at different temperatures. The quantum effects in heat transport are investigated in a numerically rigorous manner with a hierarchial equations of motion (HEOM) approach for non-perturbative and non-Markovian system-bath coupling cases under non-equilibrium steady-state conditions. For a weak interqubit interaction, the total system is regarded as two individually thermostatted systems, whereas for a strong interqubit interaction, the two-qubit system is regarded as a single system coupled to two baths. The roles of quantum coherence (or entanglement) between the two qubits (q-q coherence) andmore » between the qubit and bath (q-b coherence) are studied through the heat current calculated for various strengths of the system-bath coupling and interqubit coupling for high and low temperatures. The same current is also studied using the time convolutionless (TCL) Redfield equation and using an expression derived from the Fermi golden rule (FGR). We find that the HEOM results exhibit turnover behavior of the heat current as a function of the system-bath coupling strength for all values of the interqubit coupling strength, while the results obtained with the TCL and FGR approaches do not exhibit such behavior, because they do not possess the capability of treating the q-b and q-q coherences. The maximum current is obtained in the case that the q-q coherence and q-b coherence are balanced in such a manner that coherence of the entire heat transport process is realized. We also find that the heat current does not follow Fourier’s law when the temperature difference is very large, due to the non-perturbative system-bath interactions.« less

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.

Single photon at a configurable quantum-memory-based beam splitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Xianxin; Mei, Yefeng; Du, Shengwang

2018-06-01

We report the demonstration of a configurable coherent quantum-memory-based beam splitter (BS) for a single-photon wave packet making use of laser-cooled 85Rb atoms and electromagnetically induced transparency. The single-photon wave packet is converted (stored) into a collective atomic spin state and later retrieved (split) into two nearly opposing directions. The storage time, beam-splitting ratio, and relative phase are configurable and can be dynamically controlled. We experimentally confirm that such a BS preserves the quantum particle nature of the single photon and the coherence between the two split wave packets of the single photon.

Giant gain from spontaneously generated coherence in Y-type double quantum dot structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Nashy, B.; Razzaghi, Sonia; Al-Musawi, Muwaffaq Abdullah; Rasooli Saghai, H.; Al-Khursan, Amin H.

A theoretical model was presented for linear susceptibility using density matrix theory for Y-configuration of double quantum dots (QDs) system including spontaneously generated coherence (SGC). Two SGC components are included for this system: V, and Λ subsystems. It is shown that at high V-component, the system have a giga gain. At low Λ-system component; it is possible to controls the light speed between superluminal and subluminal using one parameter by increasing SGC component of the V-system. This have applications in quantum information storage and spatially-varying temporal clock.

Coherent triplet excitation suppresses the heading error of the avian compass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katsoprinakis, G. E.; Dellis, A. T.; Kominis, I. K.

2010-08-01

Radical-ion pair reactions are currently understood to underlie the biochemical magnetic compass of migratory birds. It was recently shown that radical-ion pair reactions form a rich playground for the application of quantum-information-science concepts and effects. We will show here that the intricate interplay between the quantum Zeno effect and the coherent excitation of radical-ion pairs leads to an exquisite angular sensitivity of the reaction yields. This results in a significant and previously unanticipated suppression of the avian compass heading error, opening the way to quantum engineering precision biological sensors.

Multiple quantum criticality in a two-dimensional superconductor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biscaras, J.; Bergeal, N.; Hurand, S.; Feuillet-Palma, C.; Rastogi, A.; Budhani, R. C.; Grilli, M.; Caprara, S.; Lesueur, J.

2013-06-01

The diverse phenomena associated with the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) that occurs at oxide interfaces include, among others, exceptional carrier mobilities, magnetism and superconductivity. Although these have mostly been the focus of interest for potential future applications, they also offer an opportunity for studying more fundamental quantum many-body effects. Here, we examine the magnetic-field-driven quantum phase transition that occurs in electrostatically gated superconducting LaTiO3/SrTiO3 interfaces. Through a finite-size scaling analysis, we show that it belongs to the (2+1)D XY model universality class. The system can be described as a disordered array of superconducting puddles coupled by a 2DEG and, depending on its conductance, the observed critical behaviour is single (corresponding to the long-range phase coherence in the whole array) or double (one related to local phase coherence, the other one to the array). A phase diagram illustrating the dependence of the critical field on the 2DEG conductance is constructed, and shown to agree with theoretical proposals. Moreover, by retrieving the coherence-length critical exponent ν, we show that the quantum critical behaviour can be clean or dirty according to the Harris criterion, depending on whether the phase-coherence length is smaller or larger than the size of the puddles.

Excited-State Spin Manipulation and Intrinsic Nuclear Spin Memory using Single Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers in Diamond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuchs, Gregory

2011-03-01

Nitrogen vacancy (NV) center spins in diamond have emerged as a promising solid-state system for quantum information processing and precision metrology at room temperature. Understanding and developing the built-in resources of this defect center for quantum logic and memory is critical to achieving these goals. In the first case, we use nanosecond duration microwave manipulation to study the electronic spin of single NV centers in their orbital excited-state (ES). We demonstrate ES Rabi oscillations and use multi-pulse resonant control to differentiate between phonon-induced dephasing, orbital relaxation, and coherent electron-nuclear interactions. A second resource, the nuclear spin of the intrinsic nitrogen atom, may be an ideal candidate for a quantum memory due to both the long coherence of nuclear spins and their deterministic presence. We investigate coherent swaps between the NV center electronic spin state and the nuclear spin state of nitrogen using Landau-Zener transitions performed outside the asymptotic regime. The swap gates are generated using lithographically fabricated waveguides that form a high-bandwidth, two-axis vector magnet on the diamond substrate. These experiments provide tools for coherently manipulating and storing quantum information in a scalable solid-state system at room temperature. We gratefully acknowledge support from AFOSR, ARO, and DARPA.

Decoherence and fluctuation dynamics of the quantum dot nuclear spin bath probed by nuclear magnetic resonance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chekhovich, Evgeny A.

2017-06-01

Dynamics of nuclear spin decoherence and nuclear spin flip-flops in self-assembled InGaAs/GaAs quantum dots are studied experimentally using optically detected nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Nuclear spin-echo decay times are found to be in the range 1-4 ms. This is a factor of ~3 longer than in strain-free GaAs/AlGaAs structures and is shown to result from strain-induced quadrupolar effects that suppress nuclear spin flip-flops. The correlation times of the flip-flops are examined using a novel frequency-comb NMR technique and are found to exceed 1 s, a factor of ~1000 longer than in strain-free structures. These findings complement recent studies of electron spin coherence and reveal the paradoxical dual role of the quadrupolar effects in self-assembled quantum dots: large increase of the nuclear spin bath coherence and at the same time significant reduction of the electron spin-qubit coherence. Approaches to increasing electron spin coherence are discussed. In particular the nanohole filled GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots are an attractive option: while their optical quality matches the self-assembled dots the quadrupolar effects measured in NMR spectra are a factor of 1000 smaller.

Multiple quantum criticality in a two-dimensional superconductor.

PubMed

Biscaras, J; Bergeal, N; Hurand, S; Feuillet-Palma, C; Rastogi, A; Budhani, R C; Grilli, M; Caprara, S; Lesueur, J

2013-06-01

The diverse phenomena associated with the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) that occurs at oxide interfaces include, among others, exceptional carrier mobilities, magnetism and superconductivity. Although these have mostly been the focus of interest for potential future applications, they also offer an opportunity for studying more fundamental quantum many-body effects. Here, we examine the magnetic-field-driven quantum phase transition that occurs in electrostatically gated superconducting LaTiO3/SrTiO3 interfaces. Through a finite-size scaling analysis, we show that it belongs to the (2+1)D XY model universality class. The system can be described as a disordered array of superconducting puddles coupled by a 2DEG and, depending on its conductance, the observed critical behaviour is single (corresponding to the long-range phase coherence in the whole array) or double (one related to local phase coherence, the other one to the array). A phase diagram illustrating the dependence of the critical field on the 2DEG conductance is constructed, and shown to agree with theoretical proposals. Moreover, by retrieving the coherence-length critical exponent ν, we show that the quantum critical behaviour can be clean or dirty according to the Harris criterion, depending on whether the phase-coherence length is smaller or larger than the size of the puddles.

Coherent manipulation of a Si/SiGe-based singlet-triplet qubit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gyure, Mark

2012-02-01

Electrically defined silicon-based qubits are expected to show improved quantum memory characteristics in comparison to GaAs-based devices due to reduced hyperfine interactions with nuclear spins. Silicon-based qubit devices have proved more challenging to build than their GaAs-based counterparts, but recently several groups have reported substantial progress in single-qubit initialization, measurement, and coherent operation. We report [1] coherent control of electron spins in two coupled quantum dots in an undoped Si/SiGe heterostructure, forming two levels of a singlet-triplet qubit. We measure a nuclei-induced T2^* of 360 ns, an increase over similar measurements in GaAs-based quantum dots by nearly two orders of magnitude. We also describe the results from detailed modeling of our materials and devices that show this value for T2^* is consistent with theoretical expectations for our estimated dot sizes and a natural abundance of ^29Si. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressly or implied, of the United States Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. Approved for public release, distribution unlimited.[4pt] [1] B. M. Maune et al., ``Coherent Singlet-Triplet Oscillations in a Silicon-based Double Quantum Dot,'' accepted by Nature.

Electrical control of single hole spins in nanowire quantum dots.

PubMed

Pribiag, V S; Nadj-Perge, S; Frolov, S M; van den Berg, J W G; van Weperen, I; Plissard, S R; Bakkers, E P A M; Kouwenhoven, L P

2013-03-01

The development of viable quantum computation devices will require the ability to preserve the coherence of quantum bits (qubits). Single electron spins in semiconductor quantum dots are a versatile platform for quantum information processing, but controlling decoherence remains a considerable challenge. Hole spins in III-V semiconductors have unique properties, such as a strong spin-orbit interaction and weak coupling to nuclear spins, and therefore, have the potential for enhanced spin control and longer coherence times. A weaker hyperfine interaction has previously been reported in self-assembled quantum dots using quantum optics techniques, but the development of hole-spin-based electronic devices in conventional III-V heterostructures has been limited by fabrication challenges. Here, we show that gate-tunable hole quantum dots can be formed in InSb nanowires and used to demonstrate Pauli spin blockade and electrical control of single hole spins. The devices are fully tunable between hole and electron quantum dots, which allows the hyperfine interaction strengths, g-factors and spin blockade anisotropies to be compared directly in the two regimes.

Complexes of native Ubiquitin and dodecyl sulfate illustrate the nature of hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions in the binding of proteins and surfactants

PubMed Central

Shaw, Bryan F.; Schneider, Grégory F.; Arthanari, Haribabu; Narovlyansky, Max; Moustakas, Demetri; Durazo, Armando; Wagner, Gerhard; Whitesides, George M.

2011-01-01

A previous study, using capillary electrophoresis (CE), reported that six discrete complexes of ubiquitin (UBI) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) form at different concentrations of SDS along the pathway to unfolding of UBI in solutions of SDS. One complex (which formed between 0.8 and 1.8 mM SDS) consisted of native UBI associated with approximately 11 molecules of SDS. The current study used CE and 15N/13C-1H heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) NMR spectroscopy to identify residues in folded UBI that associate specifically with SDS at 0.8-1.8 mM SDS, and to correlate these associations with established biophysical and structural properties of this well-characterized protein. The ability of the surface charge and hydrophobicity of folded UBI to affect the association with SDS (at concentrations below the CMC) was studied, using CE, by converting lys-ε-NH3+ to lys-ε-NHCOCH3 groups. According to CE, the acetylation of lysine residues inhibited the binding of 11 SDS ([SDS] < 2 mM) and decreased the number of complexes of composition UBI-(NHAc)8·SDSn that formed on the pathway of unfolding of UBI-(NHAc)8 in SDS. A comparison of 15N-1H HSQC spectra at 0 mM and 1 mM SDS with calculated electrostatic surface potentials of folded UBI (e.g., solutions to the non-linear Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) equation) suggested, however, that SDS binds preferentially to native UBI at hydrophobic residues that are formally neutral (i.e., Leu and Ile), but that have positive electrostatic surface potential (as predicted from solutions to non-linear Poisson-Boltzmann equations); SDS did not uniformly interact with residues that have formal positive charge (e.g., Lys or Arg). Cationic functional groups, therefore, promote the binding of SDS to folded UBI because these groups exert long-range effects on the positive electrostatic surface potential (which extend beyond their own van der Waal’s radii, as predicted from PB theory), and not because cationic groups are necessarily the site of ionic interactions with sulfate groups. Moreover, SDS associated with residues in native UBI without regard to their location in α-helix or β-sheet structure (although residues in hydrogen-bonded loops did not bind SDS). No correlation was observed between the association of an amino acid with SDS and the solvent accessibility of the residue or its rate of amide H/D exchange. This study establishes a few (of perhaps several) factors that control the simultaneous molecular recognition of multiple anionic amphiphiles by a folded cytosolic protein. PMID:21939262

Coherent state amplification using frequency conversion and a single photon source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kasture, Sachin

2017-11-01

Quantum state discrimination lies at the heart of quantum communication and quantum cryptography protocols. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) using coherent states and homodyne detection has been shown to be a feasible method for quantum communication over long distances. However, this method is still limited because of optical losses. Noiseless coherent state amplification has been proposed as a way to overcome this. Photon addition using stimulated Spontaneous Parametric Down-conversion followed by photon subtraction has been used as a way to implement amplification. However, this process occurs with very low probability which makes it very difficult to implement cascaded stages of amplification due to dark count probability in the single photon detectors used to herald the addition and subtraction of single photons. We discuss a scheme using the χ (2) and χ (3) optical non-linearity and frequency conversion (sum and difference frequency generation) along with a single photon source to implement photon addition. Unlike the photon addition scheme using SPDC, this scheme allows us to tune the success probability at the cost of reduced amplification. The photon statistics of the converted field can be controlled using the power of the pump field and the interaction time.

Notch filtering the nuclear environment of a spin qubit.

PubMed

Malinowski, Filip K; Martins, Frederico; Nissen, Peter D; Barnes, Edwin; Cywiński, Łukasz; Rudner, Mark S; Fallahi, Saeed; Gardner, Geoffrey C; Manfra, Michael J; Marcus, Charles M; Kuemmeth, Ferdinand

2017-01-01

Electron spins in gate-defined quantum dots provide a promising platform for quantum computation. In particular, spin-based quantum computing in gallium arsenide takes advantage of the high quality of semiconducting materials, reliability in fabricating arrays of quantum dots and accurate qubit operations. However, the effective magnetic noise arising from the hyperfine interaction with uncontrolled nuclear spins in the host lattice constitutes a major source of decoherence. Low-frequency nuclear noise, responsible for fast (10 ns) inhomogeneous dephasing, can be removed by echo techniques. High-frequency nuclear noise, recently studied via echo revivals, occurs in narrow-frequency bands related to differences in Larmor precession of the three isotopes 69 Ga, 71 Ga and 75 As (refs 15,16,17). Here, we show that both low- and high-frequency nuclear noise can be filtered by appropriate dynamical decoupling sequences, resulting in a substantial enhancement of spin qubit coherence times. Using nuclear notch filtering, we demonstrate a spin coherence time (T 2 ) of 0.87 ms, five orders of magnitude longer than typical exchange gate times, and exceeding the longest coherence times reported to date in Si/SiGe gate-defined quantum dots.

A self-sustaining atomic magnetometer with τ(-1) averaging property.

PubMed

Xu, C; Wang, S G; Feng, Y Y; Zhao, L; Wang, L J

2016-06-30

Quantum measurement using coherent superposition of intrinsic atomic states has the advantage of being absolute measurement and can form metrological standards. One example is the absolute measurement of magnetic field by monitoring the Larmor precession of atomic spins whilst another being the Ramsey type atomic clock. Yet, in almost all coherent quantum measurement, the precision is limited by the coherence time beyond which, the uncertainty decreases only as τ(-1/2). Here we show that by non-destructively measuring the phase of the Larmor precession and regenerating the coherence via optical pumping, the self-sustaining Larmor precession signal can persist indefinitely. Consequently, the precision of the magnetometer increases with time following a much faster τ(-1) rule. A mean sensitivity of 240  from 1 Hz to 10 Hz is realized, being close to the shot noise level. This method of coherence regeneration may also find important applications in improving the performance of atomic clocks.

High-fidelity readout and control of a nuclear spin qubit in silicon.

PubMed

Pla, Jarryd J; Tan, Kuan Y; Dehollain, Juan P; Lim, Wee H; Morton, John J L; Zwanenburg, Floris A; Jamieson, David N; Dzurak, Andrew S; Morello, Andrea

2013-04-18

Detection of nuclear spin precession is critical for a wide range of scientific techniques that have applications in diverse fields including analytical chemistry, materials science, medicine and biology. Fundamentally, it is possible because of the extreme isolation of nuclear spins from their environment. This isolation also makes single nuclear spins desirable for quantum-information processing, as shown by pioneering studies on nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond. The nuclear spin of a (31)P donor in silicon is very promising as a quantum bit: bulk measurements indicate that it has excellent coherence times and silicon is the dominant material in the microelectronics industry. Here we demonstrate electrical detection and coherent manipulation of a single (31)P nuclear spin qubit with sufficiently high fidelities for fault-tolerant quantum computing. By integrating single-shot readout of the electron spin with on-chip electron spin resonance, we demonstrate quantum non-demolition and electrical single-shot readout of the nuclear spin with a readout fidelity higher than 99.8 percent-the highest so far reported for any solid-state qubit. The single nuclear spin is then operated as a qubit by applying coherent radio-frequency pulses. For an ionized (31)P donor, we find a nuclear spin coherence time of 60 milliseconds and a one-qubit gate control fidelity exceeding 98 percent. These results demonstrate that the dominant technology of modern electronics can be adapted to host a complete electrical measurement and control platform for nuclear-spin-based quantum-information processing.

Rapid two-dimensional ALSOFAST-HSQC experiment for metabolomics and fluxomics studies: application to a 13C-enriched cancer cell model treated with gold nanoparticles.

PubMed

Schätzlein, Martina Palomino; Becker, Johanna; Schulze-Sünninghausen, David; Pineda-Lucena, Antonio; Herance, José Raul; Luy, Burkhard

2018-04-01

Isotope labeling enables the use of 13 C-based metabolomics techniques with strongly improved resolution for a better identification of relevant metabolites and tracing of metabolic fluxes in cell and animal models, as required in fluxomics studies. However, even at high NMR-active isotope abundance, the acquisition of one-dimensional 13 C and classical two-dimensional 1 H, 13 C-HSQC experiments remains time consuming. With the aim to provide a shorter, more efficient alternative, herein we explored the ALSOFAST-HSQC experiment with its rapid acquisition scheme for the analysis of 13 C-labeled metabolites in complex biological mixtures. As an initial step, the parameters of the pulse sequence were optimized to take into account the specific characteristics of the complex samples. We then applied the fast two-dimensional experiment to study the effect of different kinds of antioxidant gold nanoparticles on a HeLa cancer cell model grown on 13 C glucose-enriched medium. As a result, 1 H, 13 C-2D correlations could be obtained in a couple of seconds to few minutes, allowing a simple and reliable identification of various 13 C-enriched metabolites and the determination of specific variations between the different sample groups. Thus, it was possible to monitor glucose metabolism in the cell model and study the antioxidant effect of the coated gold nanoparticles in detail. Finally, with an experiment time of only half an hour, highly resolved 1 H, 13 C-HSQC spectra using the ALSOFAST-HSQC pulse sequence were acquired, revealing the isotope-position-patterns of the corresponding 13 C-nuclei from carbon multiplets. Graphical abstract Fast NMR applied to metabolomics and fluxomics studies with gold nanoparticles.

Coherence and measurement in quantum thermodynamics

PubMed Central

Kammerlander, P.; Anders, J.

2016-01-01

Thermodynamics is a highly successful macroscopic theory widely used across the natural sciences and for the construction of everyday devices, from car engines to solar cells. With thermodynamics predating quantum theory, research now aims to uncover the thermodynamic laws that govern finite size systems which may in addition host quantum effects. Recent theoretical breakthroughs include the characterisation of the efficiency of quantum thermal engines, the extension of classical non-equilibrium fluctuation theorems to the quantum regime and a new thermodynamic resource theory has led to the discovery of a set of second laws for finite size systems. These results have substantially advanced our understanding of nanoscale thermodynamics, however putting a finger on what is genuinely quantum in quantum thermodynamics has remained a challenge. Here we identify information processing tasks, the so-called projections, that can only be formulated within the framework of quantum mechanics. We show that the physical realisation of such projections can come with a non-trivial thermodynamic work only for quantum states with coherences. This contrasts with information erasure, first investigated by Landauer, for which a thermodynamic work cost applies for classical and quantum erasure alike. Repercussions on quantum work fluctuation relations and thermodynamic single-shot approaches are also discussed. PMID:26916503

Coherence and measurement in quantum thermodynamics.

PubMed

Kammerlander, P; Anders, J

2016-02-26

Thermodynamics is a highly successful macroscopic theory widely used across the natural sciences and for the construction of everyday devices, from car engines to solar cells. With thermodynamics predating quantum theory, research now aims to uncover the thermodynamic laws that govern finite size systems which may in addition host quantum effects. Recent theoretical breakthroughs include the characterisation of the efficiency of quantum thermal engines, the extension of classical non-equilibrium fluctuation theorems to the quantum regime and a new thermodynamic resource theory has led to the discovery of a set of second laws for finite size systems. These results have substantially advanced our understanding of nanoscale thermodynamics, however putting a finger on what is genuinely quantum in quantum thermodynamics has remained a challenge. Here we identify information processing tasks, the so-called projections, that can only be formulated within the framework of quantum mechanics. We show that the physical realisation of such projections can come with a non-trivial thermodynamic work only for quantum states with coherences. This contrasts with information erasure, first investigated by Landauer, for which a thermodynamic work cost applies for classical and quantum erasure alike. Repercussions on quantum work fluctuation relations and thermodynamic single-shot approaches are also discussed.

Coherence and measurement in quantum thermodynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kammerlander, P.; Anders, J.

2016-02-01

Thermodynamics is a highly successful macroscopic theory widely used across the natural sciences and for the construction of everyday devices, from car engines to solar cells. With thermodynamics predating quantum theory, research now aims to uncover the thermodynamic laws that govern finite size systems which may in addition host quantum effects. Recent theoretical breakthroughs include the characterisation of the efficiency of quantum thermal engines, the extension of classical non-equilibrium fluctuation theorems to the quantum regime and a new thermodynamic resource theory has led to the discovery of a set of second laws for finite size systems. These results have substantially advanced our understanding of nanoscale thermodynamics, however putting a finger on what is genuinely quantum in quantum thermodynamics has remained a challenge. Here we identify information processing tasks, the so-called projections, that can only be formulated within the framework of quantum mechanics. We show that the physical realisation of such projections can come with a non-trivial thermodynamic work only for quantum states with coherences. This contrasts with information erasure, first investigated by Landauer, for which a thermodynamic work cost applies for classical and quantum erasure alike. Repercussions on quantum work fluctuation relations and thermodynamic single-shot approaches are also discussed.

Energy spectra of quantum rings.

PubMed

Fuhrer, A; Lüscher, S; Ihn, T; Heinzel, T; Ensslin, K; Wegscheider, W; Bichler, M

2001-10-25

Quantum mechanical experiments in ring geometries have long fascinated physicists. Open rings connected to leads, for example, allow the observation of the Aharonov-Bohm effect, one of the best examples of quantum mechanical phase coherence. The phase coherence of electrons travelling through a quantum dot embedded in one arm of an open ring has also been demonstrated. The energy spectra of closed rings have only recently been studied by optical spectroscopy. The prediction that they allow persistent current has been explored in various experiments. Here we report magnetotransport experiments on closed rings in the Coulomb blockade regime. Our experiments show that a microscopic understanding of energy levels, so far limited to few-electron quantum dots, can be extended to a many-electron system. A semiclassical interpretation of our results indicates that electron motion in the rings is governed by regular rather than chaotic motion, an unexplored regime in many-electron quantum dots. This opens a way to experiments where even more complex structures can be investigated at a quantum mechanical level.

Implementation of continuous-variable quantum key distribution with composable and one-sided-device-independent security against coherent attacks.

PubMed

Gehring, Tobias; Händchen, Vitus; Duhme, Jörg; Furrer, Fabian; Franz, Torsten; Pacher, Christoph; Werner, Reinhard F; Schnabel, Roman

2015-10-30

Secret communication over public channels is one of the central pillars of a modern information society. Using quantum key distribution this is achieved without relying on the hardness of mathematical problems, which might be compromised by improved algorithms or by future quantum computers. State-of-the-art quantum key distribution requires composable security against coherent attacks for a finite number of distributed quantum states as well as robustness against implementation side channels. Here we present an implementation of continuous-variable quantum key distribution satisfying these requirements. Our implementation is based on the distribution of continuous-variable Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen entangled light. It is one-sided device independent, which means the security of the generated key is independent of any memoryfree attacks on the remote detector. Since continuous-variable encoding is compatible with conventional optical communication technology, our work is a step towards practical implementations of quantum key distribution with state-of-the-art security based solely on telecom components.

Implementation of continuous-variable quantum key distribution with composable and one-sided-device-independent security against coherent attacks

PubMed Central

Gehring, Tobias; Händchen, Vitus; Duhme, Jörg; Furrer, Fabian; Franz, Torsten; Pacher, Christoph; Werner, Reinhard F.; Schnabel, Roman

2015-01-01

Secret communication over public channels is one of the central pillars of a modern information society. Using quantum key distribution this is achieved without relying on the hardness of mathematical problems, which might be compromised by improved algorithms or by future quantum computers. State-of-the-art quantum key distribution requires composable security against coherent attacks for a finite number of distributed quantum states as well as robustness against implementation side channels. Here we present an implementation of continuous-variable quantum key distribution satisfying these requirements. Our implementation is based on the distribution of continuous-variable Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen entangled light. It is one-sided device independent, which means the security of the generated key is independent of any memoryfree attacks on the remote detector. Since continuous-variable encoding is compatible with conventional optical communication technology, our work is a step towards practical implementations of quantum key distribution with state-of-the-art security based solely on telecom components. PMID:26514280

Coherent electron-spin-resonance manipulation of three individual spins in a triple quantum dot

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

Noiri, A.; Yoneda, J.; Nakajima, T.

2016-04-11

Quantum dot arrays provide a promising platform for quantum information processing. For universal quantum simulation and computation, one central issue is to demonstrate the exhaustive controllability of quantum states. Here, we report the addressable manipulation of three single electron spins in a triple quantum dot using a technique combining electron-spin-resonance and a micro-magnet. The micro-magnet makes the local Zeeman field difference between neighboring spins much larger than the nuclear field fluctuation, which ensures the addressable driving of electron-spin-resonance by shifting the resonance condition for each spin. We observe distinct coherent Rabi oscillations for three spins in a semiconductor triple quantummore » dot with up to 25 MHz spin rotation frequencies. This individual manipulation over three spins enables us to arbitrarily change the magnetic spin quantum number of the three spin system, and thus to operate a triple-dot device as a three-qubit system in combination with the existing technique of exchange operations among three spins.« less

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

Coherent errors in quantum error correction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greenbaum, Daniel; Dutton, Zachary

Analysis of quantum error correcting (QEC) codes is typically done using a stochastic, Pauli channel error model for describing the noise on physical qubits. However, it was recently found that coherent errors (systematic rotations) on physical data qubits result in both physical and logical error rates that differ significantly from those predicted by a Pauli model. We present analytic results for the logical error as a function of concatenation level and code distance for coherent errors under the repetition code. For data-only coherent errors, we find that the logical error is partially coherent and therefore non-Pauli. However, the coherent part of the error is negligible after two or more concatenation levels or at fewer than ɛ - (d - 1) error correction cycles. Here ɛ << 1 is the rotation angle error per cycle for a single physical qubit and d is the code distance. These results support the validity of modeling coherent errors using a Pauli channel under some minimum requirements for code distance and/or concatenation. We discuss extensions to imperfect syndrome extraction and implications for general QEC.

Quantum break-time of de Sitter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dvali, Gia; Gómez, César; Zell, Sebastian

2017-06-01

The quantum break-time of a system is the time-scale after which its true quantum evolution departs from the classical mean field evolution. For capturing it, a quantum resolution of the classical background—e.g., in terms of a coherent state—is required. In this paper, we first consider a simple scalar model with anharmonic oscillations and derive its quantum break-time. Next, following [1], we apply these ideas to de Sitter space. We formulate a simple model of a spin-2 field, which for some time reproduces the de Sitter metric and simultaneously allows for its well-defined representation as quantum coherent state of gravitons. The mean occupation number N of background gravitons turns out to be equal to the de Sitter horizon area in Planck units, while their frequency is given by the de Sitter Hubble parameter. In the semi-classical limit, we show that the model reproduces all the known properties of de Sitter, such as the redshift of probe particles and thermal Gibbons-Hawking radiation, all in the language of quantum S-matrix scatterings and decays of coherent state gravitons. Most importantly, this framework allows to capture the 1/N-effects to which the usual semi-classical treatment is blind. They violate the de Sitter symmetry and lead to a finite quantum break-time of the de Sitter state equal to the de Sitter radius times N. We also point out that the quantum-break time is inversely proportional to the number of particle species in the theory. Thus, the quantum break-time imposes the following consistency condition: older and species-richer universes must have smaller cosmological constants. For the maximal, phenomenologically acceptable number of species, the observed cosmological constant would saturate this bound if our Universe were 10100 years old in its entire classical history.

Spin squeezing as an indicator of quantum chaos in the Dicke model.

PubMed

Song, Lijun; Yan, Dong; Ma, Jian; Wang, Xiaoguang

2009-04-01

We study spin squeezing, an intrinsic quantum property, in the Dicke model without the rotating-wave approximation. We show that the spin squeezing can reveal the underlying chaotic and regular structures in phase space given by a Poincaré section, namely, it acts as an indicator of quantum chaos. Spin squeezing vanishes after a very short time for an initial coherent state centered in a chaotic region, whereas it persists over a longer time for the coherent state centered in a regular region of the phase space. We also study the distribution of the mean spin directions when quantum dynamics takes place. Finally, we discuss relations among spin squeezing, bosonic quadrature squeezing, and two-qubit entanglement in the dynamical processes.