860 research outputs found
Signatures of the superfluid to Mott-insulator transition in the excitation spectrum of ultracold atoms
We present a detailed analysis of the dynamical response of ultra-cold
bosonic atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice subjected to a periodic
modulation of the lattice depth. Following the experimental realization by
Stoferle et al [Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 130403 (2004)] we study the excitation
spectrum of the system as revealed by the response of the total energy as a
function of the modulation frequency Omega. By using the Time Evolving Block
Decimation algorithm, we are able to simulate one-dimensional systems
comparable in size to those in the experiment, with harmonic trapping and
across many lattice depths ranging from the Mott-insulator to the superfluid
regime. Our results produce many of the features seen in the experiment, namely
a broad response in the superfluid regime, and narrow discrete resonances in
the Mott-insulator regime. We identify several signatures of the
superfluid-Mott insulator transition that are manifested in the spectrum as it
evolves from one limit to the other.Comment: 18 pages and 12 figures; Some improved results and additional
references. To appear in a special issue of New J. Phy
Singlet Generation in Mixed State Quantum Networks
We study the generation of singlets in quantum networks with nodes initially
sharing a finite number of partially entangled bipartite mixed states. We prove
that singlets between arbitrary nodes in such networks can be created if and
only if the initial states connecting the nodes have a particular form. We then
generalize the method of entanglement percolation, previously developed for
pure states, to mixed states of this form. As part of this, we find and compare
different distillation protocols necessary to convert groups of mixed states
shared between neighboring nodes of the network into singlets. In addition, we
discuss protocols that only rely on local rules for the efficient connection of
two remote nodes in the network via entanglement swapping. Further improvements
of the success probability of singlet generation are developed by using
particular forms of `quantum preprocessing' on the network. This includes
generalized forms of entanglement swapping and we show how such strategies can
be embedded in regular and hierarchical quantum networks.Comment: 17 pages, 21 figure
The Optical Excitation of Zigzag Carbon Nanotubes with Photons Guided in Nanofibers
We consider the excitation of electrons in semiconducting carbon nanotubes by
photons from the evanescent field created by a subwavelength-diameter optical
fiber. The strongly changing evanescent field of such nanofibers requires
dropping the dipole approximation. We show that this leads to novel effects,
especially a high dependence of the photon absorption on the relative
orientation and geometry of the nanotube-nanofiber setup in the optical and
near infrared domain. In particular, we calculate photon absorption
probabilities for a straight nanotube and nanofiber depending on their relative
angle. Nanotubes orthogonal to the fiber are found to perform much better than
parallel nanotubes when they are short. As the nanotube gets longer the
absorption of parallel nanotubes is found to exceed the orthogonal nanotubes
and approach 100% for extremely long nanotubes. In addition, we show that if
the nanotube is wrapped around the fiber in an appropriate way the absorption
is enhanced. We find that optical and near infrared photons could be converted
to excitations with efficiencies that may exceed 90%. This may provide
opportunities for future photodetectors and we discuss possible setups.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figure
Long Distance Entanglement Generation in 2D Networks
We consider 2D networks composed of nodes initially linked by two-qubit mixed
states. In these networks we develop a global error correction scheme that can
generate distance-independent entanglement from arbitrary network geometries
using rank two states. By using this method and combining it with the concept
of percolation we also show that the generation of long distance entanglement
is possible with rank three states. Entanglement percolation and global error
correction have different advantages depending on the given situation. To
reveal the trade-off between them we consider their application on networks
containing pure states. In doing so we find a range of pure-state schemes, each
of which has applications in particular circumstances: For instance, we can
identify a protocol for creating perfect entanglement between two distant
nodes. However, this protocol can not generate a singlet between any two nodes.
On the other hand, we can also construct schemes for creating entanglement
between any nodes, but the corresponding entanglement fidelity is lower.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl
Entanglement consumption of instantaneous nonlocal quantum measurements
Relativistic causality has dramatic consequences on the measurability of
nonlocal variables and poses the fundamental question of whether it is
physically meaningful to speak about the value of nonlocal variables at a
particular time. Recent work has shown that by weakening the role of the
measurement in preparing eigenstates of the variable it is in fact possible to
measure all nonlocal observables instantaneously by exploiting entanglement.
However, for these measurement schemes to succeed with certainty an infinite
amount of entanglement must be distributed initially and all this entanglement
is necessarily consumed. In this work we sharpen the characterisation of
instantaneous nonlocal measurements by explicitly devising schemes in which
only a finite amount of the initially distributed entanglement is ever
utilised. This enables us to determine an upper bound to the average
consumption for the most general cases of nonlocal measurements. This includes
the tasks of state verification, where the measurement verifies if the system
is in a given state, and verification measurements of a general set of
eigenstates of an observable. Despite its finiteness the growth of entanglement
consumption is found to display an extremely unfavourable exponential of an
exponential scaling with either the number of qubits needed to contain the
Schmidt rank of the target state or total number of qubits in the system for an
operator measurement. This scaling is seen to be a consequence of the
combination of the generic exponential scaling of unitary decompositions
combined with the highly recursive structure of our scheme required to overcome
the no-signalling constraint of relativistic causality.Comment: 32 pages and 14 figures. Updated to published versio
Probing microscopic models for system-bath interactions via parametric driving
We show that strong parametric driving of a quantum harmonic oscillator
coupled to a thermal bath allows one to distinguish between different
microscopic models for the oscillator-bath coupling. We consider a bath with an
Ohmic spectral density and a model where the system-bath interaction can be
tuned continuously between position and momentum coupling via the coupling
angle . We derive a master equation for the reduced density operator of
the oscillator in Born-Markov approximation and investigate its quasi-steady
state as a function of the driving parameters, the temperature of the bath and
the coupling angle . We find that the time-averaged variance of
position and momentum exhibits a strong dependence on these parameters. In
particular, we identify parameter regimes that maximise the -dependence
and provide an intuitive explanation of our results.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure
Efficient generation of graph states for quantum computation
We present an entanglement generation scheme which allows arbitrary graph
states to be efficiently created in a linear quantum register via an auxiliary
entangling bus. The dynamics of the entangling bus is described by an effective
non-interacting fermionic system undergoing mirror-inversion in which qubits,
encoded as local fermionic modes, become entangled purely by Fermi statistics.
We discuss a possible implementation using two species of neutral atoms stored
in an optical lattice and find that the scheme is realistic in its requirements
even in the presence of noise.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTex 4; v2 - Major changes and new result
What is a quantum simulator?
Quantum simulators are devices that actively use quantum effects to answer
questions about model systems and, through them, real systems. Here we expand
on this definition by answering several fundamental questions about the nature
and use of quantum simulators. Our answers address two important areas. First,
the difference between an operation termed simulation and another termed
computation. This distinction is related to the purpose of an operation, as
well as our confidence in and expectation of its accuracy. Second, the
threshold between quantum and classical simulations. Throughout, we provide a
perspective on the achievements and directions of the field of quantum
simulation.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure
Optical control of the current-voltage relation in stacked superconductors
We simulate the current-voltage relation of short layered superconductors,
which we model as stacks of capacitively coupled Josephson junctions. The
system is driven by external laser fields, in order to optically control the
voltage drop across the junction. We identify parameter regimes in which
supercurrents can be stabilised against thermally induced phase slips, thus
reducing the effective voltage across the superconductor. Furthermore, single
driven Josephson junctions are known to exhibit phase-locked states, where the
superconducting phase is locked to the driving field. We numerically observe
their persistence in the presence of thermal fluctuations and capacitive
coupling between adjacent Josephson junctions. Our results indicate how
macroscopic material properties can be manipulated by exploiting the large
optical nonlinearities of Josephson plasmons.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
- …