The three-site Bose-Hubbard model subject to atom losses: the boson-pair dissipation channel and failure of the mean-field approach

We employ the perturbation series expansion for derivation of the reduced master equations for the three-site Bose-Hubbard model subject to strong atom losses from the central site. The model describes a condensate trapped in a triple-well potential subject to externally controlled removal of atoms. We find that the $\pi$-phase state of the coherent superposition between the side wells decays via two dissipation channels, the single-boson channel (similar to the externally applied dissipation) and the boson-pair channel. The quantum derivation is compared to the classical adiabatic elimination within the mean-field approximation. We find that the boson-pair dissipation channel is not captured by the mean-field model, whereas the single-boson channel is described by it. Moreover, there is a matching condition between the zero-point energy bias of the side wells and the nonlinear interaction parameter which separates the regions where either the single-boson or the boson-pair dissipation channel dominate. Our results indicate that the $M$-site Bose-Hubbard models, for $M>2$, subject to atom losses may require an analysis which goes beyond the usual mean-field approximation for correct description of their dissipative features. This is an important result in view of the recent experimental works on the single site addressability of condensates trapped in optical lattices.Comment: 9 pages; 3 figures in color; submitted to PR

Entangled and disentangled evolution for a single atom in a driven cavity

For an atom in an externally driven cavity, we show that special initial states lead to near-disentangled atom-field evolution, and superpositions of these can lead to near maximally-entangled states. Somewhat counterintutively, we find that (moderate) spontaneous emission in this system actually leads to a transient increase in entanglement beyond the steady-state value. We also show that a particular field correlation function could be used, in an experimental setting, to track the time evolution of this entanglement

Aerodynamic analysis of three advanced configurations using the TranAir full-potential code

Computational results are presented for three advanced configurations: the F-16A with wing tip missiles and under wing fuel tanks, the Oblique Wing Research Aircraft, and an Advanced Turboprop research model. These results were generated by the latest version of the TranAir full potential code, which solves for transonic flow over complex configurations. TranAir embeds a surface paneled geometry definition in a uniform rectangular flow field grid, thus avoiding the use of surface conforming grids, and decoupling the grid generation process from the definition of the configuration. The new version of the code locally refines the uniform grid near the surface of the geometry, based on local panel size and/or user input. This method distributes the flow field grid points much more efficiently than the previous version of the code, which solved for a grid that was uniform everywhere in the flow field. TranAir results are presented for the three configurations and are compared with wind tunnel data

Time evolution and squeezing of the field amplitude in cavity QED

We present the conditional time evolution of the electromagnetic field produced by a cavity QED system in the strongly coupled regime. We obtain the conditional evolution through a wave-particle correlation function that measures the time evolution of the field after the detection of a photon. A connection exists between this correlation function and the spectrum of squeezing which permits the study of squeezed states in the time domain. We calculate the spectrum of squeezing from the master equation for the reduced density matrix using both the quantum regression theorem and quantum trajectories. Our calculations not only show that spontaneous emission degrades the squeezing signal, but they also point to the dynamical processes that cause this degradation.Comment: 12 pages. Submitted to JOSA

From quantum feedback to probabilistic error correction: Manipulation of quantum beats in cavity QED

It is shown how to implement quantum feedback and probabilistic error correction in an open quantum system consisting of a single atom, with ground- and excited-state Zeeman structure, in a driven two-mode optical cavity. The ground state superposition is manipulated and controlled through conditional measurements and external fields, which shield the coherence and correct quantum errors. Modeling of an experimentally realistic situation demonstrates the robustness of the proposal for realization in the laboratory

Initial state preparation with dynamically generated system-environment correlations

The dependence of the dynamics of open quantum systems upon initial correlations between the system and environment is an utterly important yet poorly understood subject. For technical convenience most prior studies assume factorizable initial states where the system and its environments are uncorrelated, but these conditions are not very realistic and give rise to peculiar behaviors. One distinct feature is the rapid build up or a sudden jolt of physical quantities immediately after the system is brought in contact with its environments. The ultimate cause of this is an initial imbalance between system-environment correlations and coupling. In this note we demonstrate explicitly how to avoid these unphysical behaviors by proper adjustments of correlations and/or the coupling, for setups of both theoretical and experimental interest. We provide simple analytical results in terms of quantities that appear in linear (as opposed to affine) master equations derived for factorized initial states.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Pure-state quantum trajectories for general non-Markovian systems do not exist

Since the first derivation of non-Markovian stochastic Schr\"odinger equations, their interpretation has been contentious. In a recent Letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 080401 (2008)], Di\'osi claimed to prove that they generate "true single system trajectories [conditioned on] continuous measurement". In this Letter we show that his proof is fundamentally flawed: the solution to his non-Markovian stochastic Schr\"odinger equation at any particular time can be interpreted as a conditioned state, but joining up these solutions as a trajectory creates a fiction.Comment: 4 page

Observation of ground-state quantum beats in atomic spontaneous emission

We report ground-state quantum beats in spontaneous emission from a continuously driven atomic ensemble. Beats are visible only in an intensity autocorrelation and evidence spontaneously generated coherence in radiative decay. Our measurement realizes a quantum eraser where a first photon detection prepares a superposition and a second erases the "which-path" information in the intermediate state.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Letter