Visualizing quantum entanglement and the EPR paradox during the photodissociation of a diatomic molecule using two ultrashort laser pulses

We investigate theoretically the dissociative ionization of a H2+ molecule using two ultrashort laser (pump-probe) pulses. The pump pulse prepares a dissociating nuclear wave packet on an ungerade surface of H2+. Next, an UV (or XUV) probe pulse ionizes this dissociating state at large (R = 20 - 100 bohr) internuclear distance. We calculate the momenta distributions of protons and photoelectrons which show a (two-slit-like) interference structure. A general, simple interference formula is obtained which depends on the electron and protons momenta, as well as on the pump-probe delay on the pulses durations and polarizations. This interference can be interpreted as visualization of an electron state delocalized over the two-centres. This state is an entangled state of a hydrogen atom with a momentum p and a proton with an opposite momentum. -p dissociating on the ungerade surface of H2+. This pump-probe scheme can be used to reveal the nonlocality of the electron which intuitively should be localized on just one of the protons separated by the distance R much larger than the atomic Bohr orbit

Efficient classical simulation of slightly entangled quantum computations

We present a scheme to efficiently simulate, with a classical computer, the dynamics of multipartite quantum systems on which the amount of entanglement (or of correlations in the case of mixed-state dynamics) is conveniently restricted. The evolution of a pure state of n qubits can be simulated by using computational resources that grow linearly in n and exponentially in the entanglement. We show that a pure-state quantum computation can only yield an exponential speed-up with respect to classical computations if the entanglement increases with the size n of the computation, and gives a lower bound on the required growth.Comment: 4 pages. Major changes. Significantly improved simulation schem

Entangled Mixed States and Local Purification

Linden, Massar and Popescu have recently given an optimization argument to show that a single two-qubit Werner state, or any other mixture of the maximally entangled Bell states, cannot be purified by local operations and classical communications. We generalise their result and give a simple explanation. In particular, we show that no purification scheme using local operations and classical communications can produce a pure singlet from any mixed state of two spin-1/2 particles. More generally, no such scheme can produce a maximally entangled state of any pair of finite-dimensional systems from a generic mixed state. We also show that the Werner states belong to a large class of states whose fidelity cannot be increased by such a scheme.Comment: 3 pages, Latex with Revtex. Small clarifications and reference adde

Geometric phase for an adiabatically evolving open quantum system

We derive an elegant solution for a two-level system evolving adiabatically under the influence of a driving field with a time-dependent phase, which includes open system effects such as dephasing and spontaneous emission. This solution, which is obtained by working in the representation corresponding to the eigenstates of the time-dependent Hermitian Hamiltonian, enables the dynamic and geometric phases of the evolving density matrix to be separated and relatively easily calculated.Comment: 10 pages, 0 figure

Basic concepts in quantum computation

Section headings: 1 Qubits, gates and networks 2 Quantum arithmetic and function evaluations 3 Algorithms and their complexity 4 From interferometers to computers 5 The first quantum algorithms 6 Quantum search 7 Optimal phase estimation 8 Periodicity and quantum factoring 9 Cryptography 10 Conditional quantum dynamics 11 Decoherence and recoherence 12 Concluding remarksComment: 37 pages, lectures given at les Houches Summer School on "Coherent Matter Waves", July-August 199

Geometric phase in open systems: beyond the Markov approximation and weak coupling limit

Beyond the quantum Markov approximation and the weak coupling limit, we present a general theory to calculate the geometric phase for open systems with and without conserved energy. As an example, the geometric phase for a two-level system coupling both dephasingly and dissipatively to its environment is calculated. Comparison with the results from quantum trajectory analysis is presented and discussed

Analysis and interpretation of high transverse entanglement in optical parametric down conversion

Quantum entanglement associated with transverse wave vectors of down conversion photons is investigated based on the Schmidt decomposition method. We show that transverse entanglement involves two variables: orbital angular momentum and transverse frequency. We show that in the monochromatic limit high values of entanglement are closely controlled by a single parameter resulting from the competition between (transverse) momentum conservation and longitudinal phase matching. We examine the features of the Schmidt eigenmodes, and indicate how entanglement can be enhanced by suitable mode selection methods.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Appearance and Stability of Anomalously Fluctuating States in Shor's Factoring Algorithm

We analyze quantum computers which perform Shor's factoring algorithm, paying attention to asymptotic properties as the number L of qubits is increased. Using numerical simulations and a general theory of the stabilities of many-body quantum states, we show the following: Anomalously fluctuating states (AFSs), which have anomalously large fluctuations of additive operators, appear in various stages of the computation. For large L, they decohere at anomalously great rates by weak noises that simulate noises in real systems. Decoherence of some of the AFSs is fatal to the results of the computation, whereas decoherence of some of the other AFSs does not have strong influence on the results of the computation. When such a crucial AFS decoheres, the probability of getting the correct computational result is reduced approximately proportional to L^2. The reduction thus becomes anomalously large with increasing L, even when the coupling constant to the noise is rather small. Therefore, quantum computations should be improved in such a way that all AFSs appearing in the algorithms do not decohere at such great rates in the existing noises.Comment: 11 figures. A few discussions were added in verion 2. Version 3 is the SAME as version 2; only errors during the Web-upload were fixed. Version 4 is the publised version, in which several typos are fixed and the reference list is update

Quantum cloning and the capacity of the Pauli channel

A family of quantum cloning machines is introduced that produce two approximate copies from a single quantum bit, while the overall input-to-output operation for each copy is a Pauli channel. A no-cloning inequality is derived, describing the balance between the quality of the two copies. This also provides an upper bound on the quantum capacity of the Pauli channel with probabilities $p_x$, $p_y$ and $p_z$. The capacity is shown to be vanishing if $(\sqrt{p_x},\sqrt{p_y},\sqrt{p_z})$ lies outside an ellipsoid whose pole coincides with the depolarizing channel that underlies the universal cloning machine.Comment: 5 pages RevTeX, 3 Postscript figure

Practical Quantum Bit Commitment Protocol

A quantum protocol for bit commitment the security of which is based on technological limitations on nondemolition measurements and long-term quantum memory is presented.Comment: Quantum Inf. Process. (2011