296 research outputs found

    The Complexity of Relating Quantum Channels to Master Equations

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    Completely positive, trace preserving (CPT) maps and Lindblad master equations are both widely used to describe the dynamics of open quantum systems. The connection between these two descriptions is a classic topic in mathematical physics. One direction was solved by the now famous result due to Lindblad, Kossakowski Gorini and Sudarshan, who gave a complete characterisation of the master equations that generate completely positive semi-groups. However, the other direction has remained open: given a CPT map, is there a Lindblad master equation that generates it (and if so, can we find it's form)? This is sometimes known as the Markovianity problem. Physically, it is asking how one can deduce underlying physical processes from experimental observations. We give a complexity theoretic answer to this problem: it is NP-hard. We also give an explicit algorithm that reduces the problem to integer semi-definite programming, a well-known NP problem. Together, these results imply that resolving the question of which CPT maps can be generated by master equations is tantamount to solving P=NP: any efficiently computable criterion for Markovianity would imply P=NP; whereas a proof that P=NP would imply that our algorithm already gives an efficiently computable criterion. Thus, unless P does equal NP, there cannot exist any simple criterion for determining when a CPT map has a master equation description. However, we also show that if the system dimension is fixed (relevant for current quantum process tomography experiments), then our algorithm scales efficiently in the required precision, allowing an underlying Lindblad master equation to be determined efficiently from even a single snapshot in this case. Our work also leads to similar complexity-theoretic answers to a related long-standing open problem in probability theory.Comment: V1: 43 pages, single column, 8 figures. V2: titled changed; added proof-overview and accompanying figure; 50 pages, single column, 9 figure

    Continuum limits of Matrix Product States

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    We determine which translationally invariant matrix product states have a continuum limit, that is, which can be considered as discretized versions of states defined in the continuum. To do this, we analyse a fine-graining renormalization procedure in real space, characterise the set of limiting states of its flow, and find that it strictly contains the set of continuous matrix product states. We also analyse which states have a continuum limit after a finite number of a coarse-graining renormalization steps. We give several examples of states with and without the different kinds of continuum limits.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. New version: somewhat expanded, some explanations added. Close to published versio

    The semigroup structure of Gaussian channels

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    We investigate the semigroup structure of bosonic Gaussian quantum channels. Particular focus lies on the sets of channels which are divisible, idempotent or Markovian (in the sense of either belonging to one-parameter semigroups or being infinitesimal divisible). We show that the non-compactness of the set of Gaussian channels allows for remarkable differences when comparing the semigroup structure with that of finite dimensional quantum channels. For instance, every irreversible Gaussian channel is shown to be divisible in spite of the existence of Gaussian channels which are not infinitesimal divisible. A simpler and known consequence of non-compactness is the lack of generators for certain reversible channels. Along the way we provide new representations for classes of Gaussian channels: as matrix semigroup, complex valued positive matrices or in terms of a simple form describing almost all one-parameter semigroups.Comment: 20 page

    The problem of equilibration and the computation of correlation functions on a quantum computer

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    We address the question of how a quantum computer can be used to simulate experiments on quantum systems in thermal equilibrium. We present two approaches for the preparation of the equilibrium state on a quantum computer. For both approaches, we show that the output state of the algorithm, after long enough time, is the desired equilibrium. We present a numerical analysis of one of these approaches for small systems. We show how equilibrium (time)-correlation functions can be efficiently estimated on a quantum computer, given a preparation of the equilibrium state. The quantum algorithms that we present are hard to simulate on a classical computer. This indicates that they could provide an exponential speedup over what can be achieved with a classical device.Comment: 25 pages LaTex + 8 figures; various additional comments, results and correction

    Universal Hamiltonians for quantum simulation and their applications to holography

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    Recent work has demonstrated the existence of universal Hamiltonians – simple spin lattice models that can simulate any other quantum many body system. These universal Hamiltonians have applications for developing quantum simulators, as well as for Hamiltonian complexity, quantum computation, and fundamental physics. In this thesis we extend the theory of universal Hamiltonians. We begin by developing a new method for proving that a given family of Hamiltonians is indeed universal. We then use this method to construct two new universal models – both of which consist of translationally invariant interactions acting on a 1D spin chain. But the benefit of our method doesn’t just lie in the simple universal models it allows us to construct. It also gives deeper insight into the origins of universality – and demonstrates a link between the universality and complexity. We make this insight rigorous, and derive a complexity theoretic classification of universal Hamiltonians which encompasses all known universal models. This classification provides a new, simplified route to checking whether a particular family of Hamiltonians meets the conditions to be a universal simulator. We also consider the practical use of analogue Hamiltonian simulation. Under- standing the effect of noise on Hamiltonian simulation is a key issue in practical implementations. The first step to tackling this issue is characterising the noise processes affecting near term quantum devices. Motivated by this, we develop and numerically benchmark an algorithm which fits noise models to tomographic data from quantum devices to enable this process. This algorithm has applicability beyond analogue simulators, and could be used to investigate the physical noise processes in any quantum computing device. Finally, we apply the theory of universal Hamiltonians to high energy physics by using them to construct toy models of holographic duality which capture more of the expected features of the AdS/CFT correspondence

    Using Quantum Computers for Quantum Simulation

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    Numerical simulation of quantum systems is crucial to further our understanding of natural phenomena. Many systems of key interest and importance, in areas such as superconducting materials and quantum chemistry, are thought to be described by models which we cannot solve with sufficient accuracy, neither analytically nor numerically with classical computers. Using a quantum computer to simulate such quantum systems has been viewed as a key application of quantum computation from the very beginning of the field in the 1980s. Moreover, useful results beyond the reach of classical computation are expected to be accessible with fewer than a hundred qubits, making quantum simulation potentially one of the earliest practical applications of quantum computers. In this paper we survey the theoretical and experimental development of quantum simulation using quantum computers, from the first ideas to the intense research efforts currently underway.Comment: 43 pages, 136 references, review article, v2 major revisions in response to referee comments, v3 significant revisions, identical to published version apart from format, ArXiv version has table of contents and references in alphabetical orde
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