Non-commutative Markov chains and multi-analytic operators

We study a model of repeated interaction between quantum systems which can be thought of as a non-commutative Markov chain. It is shown that there exists an outgoing Cuntz scattering system associated to this model which induces an input-output formalism with a transfer function corresponding to a multi-analytic operator, in the sense of multivariate operator theory. Finally we show that observability for this system is closely related to the scattering theory of non-commutative Markov chains.Comment: 19 page

Weak Markov Processes as Linear Systems

A noncommutative Fornasini-Marchesini system (a multi-variable version of a linear system) can be realized within a weak Markov process (a model for quantum evolution). For a discrete time parameter the resulting structure is worked out systematically and some quantum mechanical interpretations are given. We introduce subprocesses and quotient processes and then the notion of a $\gamma$-extension for processes which leads to a complete classification of all the ways in which processes can be built from subprocesses and quotient processes. We show that within a $\gamma$-extension we have a cascade of noncommutative Fornasini-Marchesini systems. We study observability in this setting and as an application we gain new insights into stationary Markov chains where observability for the system is closely related to asymptotic completeness in a scattering theory for the chain.Comment: Expanded version v2 (43 pages) with substantial additions and improvements compared to v1. More details and examples, in particular in sections 3, 4 and 7. Also changes in terminology, compare Def. 3.1, 4.2, 6.4, page 33. To appear in the journal: Mathematics of Control, Signals, and Systems (MCSS

Full control by locally induced relaxation

We demonstrate a scheme for controlling a large quantum system by acting on a small subsystem only. The local control is mediated to the larger system by some fixed coupling Hamiltonian. The scheme allows to transfer arbitrary and unknown quantum states from a memory on the large system (``upload access'') as well as the inverse (``download access''). We study sufficient conditions of the coupling Hamiltonian and give lower bounds on the fidelities for downloading and uploading.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Quantum MERA Channels

Tensor networks representations of many-body quantum systems can be described in terms of quantum channels. We focus on channels associated with the Multi-scale Entanglement Renormalization Ansatz (MERA) tensor network that has been recently introduced to efficiently describe critical systems. Our approach allows us to compute the MERA correspondent to the thermodynamic limit of a critical system introducing a transfer matrix formalism, and to relate the system critical exponents to the convergence rates of the associated channels.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Characteristic Functions for Ergodic Tuples

Motivated by a result on weak Markov dilations, we define a notion of characteristic function for ergodic and coisometric row contractions with a one-dimensional invariant subspace for the adjoints. This extends a definition given by G. Popescu. We prove that our characteristic function is a complete unitary invariant for such tuples and show how it can be computed.Comment: 22 pages, changes made after referee's comments, to appear in Integral Equations and Operator Theor