2,113 research outputs found
Entanglement combing
We show that all multi-partite pure states can, under local operations, be
transformed into bi-partite pairwise entangled states in a "lossless fashion":
An arbitrary distinguished party will keep pairwise entanglement with all other
parties after the asymptotic protocol - decorrelating all other parties from
each other - in a way that the degree of entanglement of this party with
respect to the rest will remain entirely unchanged. The set of possible
entanglement distributions of bi-partite pairs is also classified. Finally, we
point out several applications of this protocol as a useful primitive in
quantum information theory.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, replaced with final versio
Measuring thermodynamic length
Thermodynamic length is a metric distance between equilibrium thermodynamic
states. Among other interesting properties, this metric asymptotically bounds
the dissipation induced by a finite time transformation of a thermodynamic
system. It is also connected to the Jensen-Shannon divergence, Fisher
information and Rao's entropy differential metric. Therefore, thermodynamic
length is of central interest in understanding matter out-of-equilibrium. In
this paper, we will consider how to define thermodynamic length for a small
system described by equilibrium statistical mechanics and how to measure
thermodynamic length within a computer simulation. Surprisingly, Bennett's
classic acceptance ratio method for measuring free energy differences also
measures thermodynamic length.Comment: 4 pages; Typos correcte
Generalized Jarzynski Equality under Nonequilibrium Feedback Control
The Jarzynski equality is generalized to situations in which nonequilibrium
systems are subject to a feedback control. The new terms that arise as a
consequence of the feedback describe the mutual information content obtained by
measurement and the efficacy of the feedback control. Our results lead to a
generalized fluctuation-dissipation theorem that reflects the readout
information, and can be experimentally tested using small thermodynamic
systems. We illustrate our general results by an introducing "information
ratchet," which can transport a Brownian particle in one direction and extract
a positive work from the particle
Entropy measures for complex networks: Toward an information theory of complex topologies
The quantification of the complexity of networks is, today, a fundamental
problem in the physics of complex systems. A possible roadmap to solve the
problem is via extending key concepts of information theory to networks. In
this paper we propose how to define the Shannon entropy of a network ensemble
and how it relates to the Gibbs and von Neumann entropies of network ensembles.
The quantities we introduce here will play a crucial role for the formulation
of null models of networks through maximum-entropy arguments and will
contribute to inference problems emerging in the field of complex networks.Comment: (4 pages, 1 figure
Interpreting quantum discord through quantum state merging
We present an operational interpretation of quantum discord based on the
quantum state merging protocol. Quantum discord is the markup in the cost of
quantum communication in the process of quantum state merging, if one discards
relevant prior information. Our interpretation has an intuitive explanation
based on the strong subadditivity of von Neumann entropy. We use our result to
provide operational interpretations of other quantities like the local purity
and quantum deficit. Finally, we discuss in brief some instances where our
interpretation is valid in the single copy scenario.Comment: 5 pages, no figures. See http://arxiv.org/abs/1008.3205 for similar
results. Typos fixed, references and acknowledgements updated. End note adde
Modeling Maxwell's demon with a microcanonical Szilard engine
Following recent work by Marathe and Parrondo [PRL, 104, 245704 (2010)], we
construct a classical Hamiltonian system whose energy is reduced during the
adiabatic cycling of external parameters, when initial conditions are sampled
microcanonically. Combining our system with a device that measures its energy,
we propose a cyclic procedure during which energy is extracted from a heat bath
and converted to work, in apparent violation of the second law of
thermodynamics. This paradox is resolved by deriving an explicit relationship
between the average work delivered during one cycle of operation, and the
average information gained when measuring the system's energy
Is a multiple excitation of a single atom equivalent to a single excitation of an ensemble of atoms?
Recent technological advances have enabled to isolate, control and measure
the properties of a single atom, leading to the possibility to perform
statistics on the behavior of single quantum systems. These experiments have
enabled to check a question which was out of reach previously: Is the
statistics of a repeatedly excitation of an atom N times equivalent to a single
excitation of an ensemble of N atoms? We present a new method to analyze
quantum measurements which leads to the postulation that the answer is most
probably no. We discuss the merits of the analysis and its conclusion.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure
Entropic Entanglement Criteria for Continuous Variables
We derive several entanglement criteria for bipartite continuous variable
quantum systems based on the Shannon entropy. These criteria are more sensitive
than those involving only second-order moments, and are equivalent to
well-known variance product tests in the case of Gaussian states. Furthermore,
they involve only a pair of quadrature measurements, and will thus should prove
extremely useful the experimental identification of entanglement.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Reversibility, heat dissipation and the importance of the thermal environment in stochastic models of nonequilibrium steady states
We examine stochastic processes that are used to model nonequilibrium
processes (e.g, pulling RNA or dragging colloids) and so deliberately violate
detailed balance. We argue that by combining an information-theoretic measure
of irreversibility with nonequilibrium work theorems, the thermal physics
implied by abstract dynamics can be determined. This measure is bounded above
by thermodynamic entropy production and so may quantify how well a stochastic
dynamics models reality. We also use our findings to critique various modeling
approaches and notions arising in steady-state thermodynamics.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, easy-to-read, single-column, large-print RevTeX4
format; version with modified abstract and additional discussion, references
to appear in Phys Rev Let
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