Cooperative shielding in many-body systems with long-range interaction

In recent experiments with ion traps, long-range interactions were associated with the exceptionally fast propagation of perturbation, while in some theoretical works they have also been related with the suppression of propagation. Here, we show that such apparently contradictory behavior is caused by a general property of long-range interacting systems, which we name "Cooperative Shielding". It refers to shielded subspaces that emerge as the system size increases and inside of which the evolution is unaffected by long-range interactions for a long time. As a result, the dynamics strongly depends on the initial state: if it belongs to a shielded subspace, the spreading of perturbation satisfies the Lieb-Robinson bound and may even be suppressed, while for initial states with components in various subspaces, the propagation may be quasi-instantaneous. We establish an analogy between the shielding effect and the onset of quantum Zeno subspaces. The derived effective Zeno Hamiltonian successfully describes the short-ranged dynamics inside the subspaces up to a time scale that increases with system size. Cooperative Shielding can be tested in current experiments with trapped ions.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures (accepted at Phys. Rev. Lett.

The Topological Non-connectivity Threshold and magnetic phase transitions in classical anisotropic long-range interacting spin system

We analyze from the dynamical point of view the classical characteristics of the Topological Non-connectivity Threshold (TNT), recently introduced in F.Borgonovi, G.L.Celardo, M.Maianti, E.Pedersoli, J.Stat.Phys.,116,516(2004). This shows interesting connections among Topology, Dynamics, and Thermo-Statistics of ferro/paramagnetic phase transition in classical spin systems, due to the combined effect of anisotropy and long-range interactions.Comment: 6 revtex pages, 4 .eps figures Contribution presented at the 3rd Conference NEXT-Sigma-Phi News, Expectations, and Trends in Statistical Physics, August 13-18 2005, Kolymbari, Crete. For related results see also cond-mat/0402270 cond-mat/0410119 cond-mat/0505209 cond-mat/0506233 cond-mat/051007

Channel cross-correlations in transport through complex media

Measuring transmission between four antennas in microwave cavities, we investigate directly the channel cross-correlations $C$ of the cross sections $\sigma^{ab}$ from antenna at $\vec{r}_a$ to antenna $\vec{r}_b$. Specifically we look for the $C_\Sigma$ and $C_\Lambda$, where the only difference is that $C_\Lambda$ has none of the four channels in common, whereas $C_\Sigma$ has exactly one channel in common. We find experimentally that these two channel cross-correlations are anti-phased as a function of the channel coupling strength, as predicted by theory. This anti-correlation is essential to give the correct values for the universal conductance fluctuations. To obtain a good agreement between experiment and predictions from random matrix theory the effect of absorption had to be included.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Macroscopic coherence as an emergent property in molecular nanotubes

Nanotubular molecular self-aggregates are characterized by a high degree of symmetry and they are fundamental systems for light-harvesting and energy transport. While coherent effects are thought to be at the basis of their high efficiency, the relationship between structure, coherence and functionality is still an open problem. We analyse natural nanotubes present in Green Sulphur Bacteria. We show that they have the ability to support macroscopic coherent states, i.e. delocalized excitonic states coherently spread over many molecules, even at room temperature. Specifically, assuming a canonical thermal state we find, in natural structures, a large thermal coherence length, of the order of 1000 molecules. By comparing natural structures with other mathematical models, we show that this macroscopic coherence cannot be explained either by the magnitude of the nearest-neighbour coupling between the molecules, which would induce a thermal coherence length of the order of 10 molecules, nor by the presence of long-range interactions between the molecules. Indeed we prove that the existence of macroscopic coherent states is an emergent property of such structures due to the interplay between geometry and cooperativity (superradiance and super-transfer). In order to prove that, we give evidence that the lowest part of the spectrum of natural systems is determined by a cooperatively enhanced coupling (super-transfer) between the eigenstates of modular sub-units of the whole structure. Due to this enhanced coupling strength, the density of states is lowered close to the ground state, thus boosting the thermal coherence length. As a striking consequence of the lower density of states, an energy gap between the excitonic ground state and the first excited state emerges. Such energy gap increases with the length of the nanotube (instead of decreasing as one would expect), up to a critical system size which is close to the length of the natural complexes considered

A Chirality-Based Quantum Leap

There is increasing interest in the study of chiral degrees of freedom occurring in matter and in electromagnetic fields. Opportunities in quantum sciences will likely exploit two main areas that are the focus of this Review: (1) recent observations of the chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect in chiral molecules and engineered nanomaterials and (2) rapidly evolving nanophotonic strategies designed to amplify chiral light-matter interactions. On the one hand, the CISS effect underpins the observation that charge transport through nanoscopic chiral structures favors a particular electronic spin orientation, resulting in large room-temperature spin polarizations. Observations of the CISS effect suggest opportunities for spin control and for the design and fabrication of room-temperature quantum devices from the bottom up, with atomic-scale precision and molecular modularity. On the other hand, chiral-optical effects that depend on both spin- and orbital-angular momentum of photons could offer key advantages in all-optical and quantum information technologies. In particular, amplification of these chiral light-matter interactions using rationally designed plasmonic and dielectric nanomaterials provide approaches to manipulate light intensity, polarization, and phase in confined nanoscale geometries. Any technology that relies on optimal charge transport, or optical control and readout, including quantum devices for logic, sensing, and storage, may benefit from chiral quantum properties. These properties can be theoretically and experimentally investigated from a quantum information perspective, which has not yet been fully developed. There are uncharted implications for the quantum sciences once chiral couplings can be engineered to control the storage, transduction, and manipulation of quantum information. This forward-looking Review provides a survey of the experimental and theoretical fundamentals of chiral-influenced quantum effects and presents a vision for their possible future roles in enabling room-temperature quantum technologies.ISSN:1936-0851ISSN:1936-086