Quantum state transfer and time-dependent disorder in Quantum Chains

One of the most basic tasks required for Quantum Information Technology is the ability to connect different components of a Quantum Computer by quantum wires that obey the superposition principle. Since superpositions can be very sensitive to noise this turns out to be already quite difficult. Recently, it was suggested to use chains of permanently coupled spin-1/2 particles (quantum chains) for this purpose. They have the advantage that no external control along the wire is required during the transport of information, which makes it possible to isolate the wire from sources of noise. We first give an introduction to basic quantum state transfer and review existing advanced schemes by other authors. We then show a new result that demonstrates the stability of the scheme [1] against disorder that is approximately constant during one application of the channel, but time-dependent with respect to multiple applications.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, submitted to the proceedings of the 382. WEH workshop "transrel" March 2007; added reference to experimental realizatio

A Protocol For Cooling and Controlling Composite Systems by Local Interactions

We discuss an explicit protocol which allows one to externally cool and control a composite system by operating on a small subset of it. The scheme permits to transfer arbitrary and unknown quantum states from a memory on the network ("upload access") as well as the inverse ("download access"). In particular it yields a method for cooling the system.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures: in "Quantum Information and Many Body Quantum Systems", proceedings, M. Ericsson and S. Montangero (eds.), Pisa, Edizioni della Normale, p. 17 (2008

Non-Markovian dynamics in a spin star system: Exact solution and approximation techniques

The reduced dynamics of a central spin coupled to a bath of N spin-1/2 particles arranged in a spin star configuration is investigated. The exact time evolution of the reduced density operator is derived, and an analytical solution is obtained in the limit of an infinite number of bath spins, where the model shows complete relaxation and partial decoherence. It is demonstrated that the dynamics of the central spin cannot be treated within the Born-Markov approximation. The Nakajima-Zwanzig and the time-convolutionless projection operator technique are applied to the spin star system. The performance of the corresponding perturbation expansions of the non-Markovian equations of motion is examined through a comparison with the exact solution.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures; submitted to PR

Improved transfer of quantum information using a local memory

We demonstrate that the quantum communication between two parties can be significantly improved if the receiver is allowed to store the received signals in a quantum memory before decoding them. In the limit of an infinite memory, the transfer is perfect. We prove that this scheme allows the transfer of arbitrary multipartite states along Heisenberg chains of spin-1/2 particles with random coupling strengths.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; added references to homogenization and asymptotic completenes

Controlling quantum state transfer in spin chain with the confined field

As a demonstration of the spectrum-parity matching condition (SPMC) for quantum state transfer, we investigate the propagation of single-magnon state in the Heisenberg chain in the confined external tangent magnetic field analytically and numerically. It shows that the initial Gaussian wave packet can be retrieved at the counterpart location near-perfectly over a longer distance if the dispersion relation of the system meets the SPMC approximately.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Mediated Homogenization

Homogenization protocols model the quantum mechanical evolution of a system to a fixed state independently from its initial configuration by repeatedly coupling it with a collection of identical ancillas. Here we analyze these protocols within the formalism of "relaxing" channels providing an easy to check sufficient condition for homogenization. In this context we describe mediated homogenization schemes where a network of connected qudits relaxes to a fixed state by only partially interacting with a bath. We also study configurations which allow us to introduce entanglement among the elements of the network. Finally we analyze the effect of having competitive configurations with two different baths and we prove the convergence to dynamical equilibrium for Heisenberg chains.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Full control by locally induced relaxation

We demonstrate a scheme for controlling a large quantum system by acting on a small subsystem only. The local control is mediated to the larger system by some fixed coupling Hamiltonian. The scheme allows to transfer arbitrary and unknown quantum states from a memory on the large system (``upload access'') as well as the inverse (``download access''). We study sufficient conditions of the coupling Hamiltonian and give lower bounds on the fidelities for downloading and uploading.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Conclusive and arbitrarily perfect quantum state transfer using parallel spin chain channels

We suggest a protocol for perfect quantum communication through spin chain channels. By combining a dual-rail encoding with measurements only at the receiving end, we can get conclusively perfect state transfer, whose probability of success can be made arbitrarily close to unity. As an example of such an amplitude delaying channel, we show how two parallel Heisenberg spin chains can be used as quantum wires. Perfect state transfer with a probability of failure lower than P in a Heisenberg chain of N spin-1/2 particles can be achieved in a timescale of the order of N^1.7|ln(P)|. We demonstrate that our scheme is more robust to decoherence and non-optimal timing than any scheme using single spin chains.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures ; expanded version inluding discussion of transmission tim