16 research outputs found
A Factorization Law for Entanglement Decay
We present a simple and general factorization law for quantum systems shared
by two parties, which describes the time evolution of entanglement upon passage
of either component through an arbitrary noisy channel. The robustness of
entanglement-based quantum information processing protocols is thus easily and
fully characterized by a single quantity.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Local Detection of Quantum Correlations with a Single Trapped Ion
As one of the most striking features of quantum mechanics, quantum
correlations are at the heart of quantum information science. Detection of
correlations usually requires access to all the correlated subsystems. However,
in many realistic scenarios this is not feasible since only some of the
subsystems can be controlled and measured. Such cases can be treated as open
quantum systems interacting with an inaccessible environment. Initial
system-environment correlations play a fundamental role for the dynamics of
open quantum systems. Following a recent proposal, we exploit the impact of the
correlations on the open-system dynamics to detect system-environment quantum
correlations without accessing the environment. We use two degrees of freedom
of a trapped ion to model an open system and its environment. The present
method does not require any assumptions about the environment, the interaction
or the initial state and therefore provides a versatile tool for the study of
quantum systems.Comment: 6 Pages, 5 Figures + 6 Pages, 1 Figure of Supplementary Materia
Using coherence to enhance function in chemical and biophysical systems
Coherence phenomena arise from interference, or the addition, of wave-like amplitudes with fixed phase differences. Although coherence has been shown to yield transformative ways for improving function, advances have been confined to pristine matter and coherence was considered fragile. However, recent evidence of coherence in chemical and biological systems suggests that the phenomena are robust and can survive in the face of disorder and noise. Here we survey the state of recent discoveries, present viewpoints that suggest that coherence can be used in complex chemical systems, and discuss the role of coherence as a design element in realizing function
Quantum Accelerator Modes from the Farey Tree
We show that mode locking finds a purely quantum nondissipative counterpart in atom-optical quantum accelerator modes. These modes are formed by exposing cold atoms to periodic kicks in the direction of the gravitational field. They are anchored to generalized Arnol'd tongues, parameter regions where driven nonlinear classical systems exhibit mode locking. A hierarchy for the rational numbers known as the Farey tree provides an ordering of the Arnol'd tongues and hence of experimentally observed accelerator modes