6 research outputs found
Decoherence in Bose-Einstein Condensates: towards Bigger and Better Schroedinger Cats
We consider a quantum superposition of Bose-Einstein condensates in two
immiscible internal states. A decoherence rate for the resulting Schroedinger
cat is calculated and shown to be a significant threat to this macroscopic
quantum superposition of BEC's. An experimental scenario is outlined where the
decoherence rate due to the thermal cloud is dramatically reduced thanks to
trap engineering and "symmetrization" of the environment which allow for the
Schroedinger cat to be an approximate pointer states.Comment: 12 pages in RevTex; improved presentation; a new comment on
decoherence-free pointer subspaces in BEC; accepted in Phys.Rev.
Inhibiting decoherence via ancilla processes
General conditions are derived for preventing the decoherence of a single
two-state quantum system (qubit) in a thermal bath. The employed auxiliary
systems required for this purpose are merely assumed to be weak for the general
condition while various examples such as extra qubits and extra classical
fields are studied for applications in quantum information processing. The
general condition is confirmed with well known approaches towards inhibiting
decoherence. A novel approach for decoherence-free quantum memories and quantum
operations is presented by placing the qubit into the center of a sphere with
extra qubits on its surface.Comment: pages 8, Revtex
Van der Waals-Casimir-Polder interaction of an atom with a composite surface
We study the dispersion interaction of the van der Waals and Casimir-Polder
(vdW-CP) type between a neutral atom and the surface of a metal by allowing for
nonlocal electrodynamics, i.e. electron diffusion. We consider two models: (i)
bulk diffusion, and (ii) diffusion in a surface charge layer. In both cases the
transition to a semiconductor is continuous as a function of the conductivity,
unlike the case of a local model. The relevant parameter is the electric
screening length and depends on the carrier diffusion constant. We find that
for distances comparable to the screening length, vdW-CP data can distinguish
between bulk and surface diffusion, hence it can be a sensitive probe for
surface states.Comment: v2: expanded references, statements on current status in the field.
10 pages, 6 figure