Controlling entropic uncertainty bound through memory effects

One of the defining traits of quantum mechanics is the uncertainty principle which was originally expressed in terms of the standard deviation of two observables. Alternatively, it can be formulated using entropic measures, and can also be generalized by including a memory particle that is entangled with the particle to be measured. Here we consider a realistic scenario where the memory particle is an open system interacting with an external environment. Through the relation of conditional entropy to mutual information, we provide a link between memory effects and the rate of change of conditional entropy controlling the lower bound of the entropic uncertainty relation. Our treatment reveals that the memory effects stemming from the non-Markovian nature of quantum dynamical maps directly control the lower bound of the entropic uncertainty relation in a general way, independently of the specific type of interaction between the memory particle and its environment.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Entropic uncertainty relations for Markovian and non-Markovian processes under a structured bosonic reservoir

The uncertainty relation is a fundamental limit in quantum mechanics and is of great importance to quantum information processing as it relates to quantum precision measurement. Due to interactions with the surrounding environment, a quantum system will unavoidably suffer from decoherence. Here, we investigate the dynamic behaviors of the entropic uncertainty relation of an atom-cavity interacting system under a bosonic reservoir during the crossover between Markovian and non-Markovian regimes. Specifically, we explore the dynamic behavior of the entropic uncertainty relation for a pair of incompatible observables under the reservoir-induced atomic decay effect both with and without quantum memory. We find that the uncertainty dramatically depends on both the atom-cavity and the cavity-reservoir interactions, as well as the correlation time, $\tau$, of the structured reservoir. Furthermore, we verify that the uncertainty is anti-correlated with the purity of the state of the observed qubit-system. We also propose a remarkably simple and efficient way to reduce the uncertainty by utilizing quantum weak measurement reversal. Therefore our work offers a new insight into the uncertainty dynamics for multi-component measurements within an open system, and is thus important for quantum precision measurements.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, to appear in Scientific Report

Entanglement witness and entropy uncertainty of open Quantum systems under Zeno effect

The entanglement witness and the entropy uncertainty are investigated by using the pseudomode theory for the open two-atom system under the quantum Zeno effect. The results show that, only when the two spectrums satisfy strong coupling with the atom, the time of entanglement witness can be prolonged and the lower bound of the entropic uncertainty can be reduced, and the entanglement can be witnessed many times. We also gave the corresponding physical explanation by the non-Markovianity. The Zeno effect not only can very effectively prolong the time of entanglement witness and reduce the lower bound of the entropy uncertainty, but also can greatly enhance the time of entanglement witness and reduce the entanglement value of witness

Quantum-memory-assisted entropic uncertainty relations

Uncertainty relations take a crucial and fundamental part in the frame of quantum theory, and are bringing on many marvelous applications in the emerging field of quantum information sciences. Especially, as entropy is imposed into the uncertainty principle, entropy-based uncertainty relations lead to a number of applications including quantum key distribution, entanglement witness, quantum steering, quantum metrology, and quantum teleportation. Herein, the history of the development of the uncertainty relations is discussed, especially focusing on the recent progress with regard to quantum-memory-assisted entropic uncertainty relations and dynamical characteristics of the measured uncertainty in some explicit physical systems. The aims are to help deepen the understanding of entropic uncertainty relations and prompt further explorations for versatile applications of the relations on achieving practical quantum tasks.Comment: Review, 20 pages, published in Ann. Phys. (Berlin

The sudden change phenomenon of quantum discord

Even if the parameters determining a system's state are varied smoothly, the behavior of quantum correlations alike to quantum discord, and of its classical counterparts, can be very peculiar, with the appearance of non-analyticities in its rate of change. Here we review this sudden change phenomenon (SCP) discussing some important points related to it: Its uncovering, interpretations, and experimental verifications, its use in the context of the emergence of the pointer basis in a quantum measurement process, its appearance and universality under Markovian and non-Markovian dynamics, its theoretical and experimental investigation in some other physical scenarios, and the related phenomenon of double sudden change of trace distance discord. Several open questions are identified, and we envisage that in answering them we will gain significant further insight about the relation between the SCP and the symmetry-geometric aspects of the quantum state space.Comment: Lectures on General Quantum Correlations and their Applications, F. F. Fanchini, D. O. Soares Pinto, and G. Adesso (Eds.), Springer (2017), pp 309-33

Quantum channels and memory effects

Any physical process can be represented as a quantum channel mapping an initial state to a final state. Hence it can be characterized from the point of view of communication theory, i.e., in terms of its ability to transfer information. Quantum information provides a theoretical framework and the proper mathematical tools to accomplish this. In this context the notion of codes and communication capacities have been introduced by generalizing them from the classical Shannon theory of information transmission and error correction. The underlying assumption of this approach is to consider the channel not as acting on a single system, but on sequences of systems, which, when properly initialized allow one to overcome the noisy effects induced by the physical process under consideration. While most of the work produced so far has been focused on the case in which a given channel transformation acts identically and independently on the various elements of the sequence (memoryless configuration in jargon), correlated error models appear to be a more realistic way to approach the problem. A slightly different, yet conceptually related, notion of correlated errors applies to a single quantum system which evolves continuously in time under the influence of an external disturbance which acts on it in a non-Markovian fashion. This leads to the study of memory effects in quantum channels: a fertile ground where interesting novel phenomena emerge at the intersection of quantum information theory and other branches of physics. A survey is taken of the field of quantum channels theory while also embracing these specific and complex settings.Comment: Review article, 61 pages, 26 figures; 400 references. Final version of the manuscript, typos correcte

Non-Markovian dynamics of open quantum systems

This thesis is centred around the striking phenomenon of non-Markovianity which emanates from exact dynamical descriptions of open quantum systems. Non- Markovianity is associated with the existence of memory effects in the environment and leads to a partial recovery of information of the system, temporarily counteracting the deleterious effect of the surrounding environment. We devote this thesis to addressing two fundamental questions surrounding the topic of non-Markovianity. The first is concerned with how to evaluate the extent to which a specific dynamics is non-Markovian, in terms of a physically meaningful and easily computable measure. In literature, the desire to quantify non-Markovianity has motivated a plethora of measures which provide unique, albeit potentially contradicting, interpretations of memory effects. In an attempt to consolidate the literature, we introduce and critically compare several recently proposed non-Markovianity measures for single qubit and two qubit systems in both pure dephasing and dissipative scenarios. The second question explores the natural optimism of the usefulness of non-Markovianity as a resource in quantum information protocols. In more detail, we study whether memory effects combined with external control techniques offer a possibility to exploit non-Markovianity for an overall superior technique to combat decoherence. The standard approach for Markovian dynamics involves the critical assumption of dissipative dynamics which are fixed in the presence of control. We expose the serious pitfalls in experimentally implementing such a strategy in realistic non-Markovian scenarios and accentuate the importance of using exact approaches in non-Markovian control theory. Using an exact description of a pure dephasing system subject to dynamical decoupling protocols, we demonstrate that contrary to intuitive reasoning, non-Markovianity is not trivially a resource