Two-mode squeezed vacuum state coupled to the common thermal reservoir

Entangled states play a crucial role in quantum information protocols, thus the dynamical behavior of entanglement is of a great importance. In this paper we consider a two-mode squeezed vacuum state coupled to one thermal reservoir as a model of an entangled state embedded in an environment. As a criterion for entanglement we use a continuous-variable equivalent of the Peres-Horodecki criterion, namely the Simon criterion. To quantify entanglement we use the logarithmic negativity. We derive a condition, which assures that the state remains entangled in spite of the interaction with the reservoir. Moreover for the case of interaction with vacuum as an environment we show that a state of interest after intinitely long interaction is not only entangled, but also pure. For comparison we also consider a model in which each of both modes is coupled to its own reservoir.Comment: replaced with version published in J. Phys.

Non-sequential double ionization of molecules

Double ionization of diatomic molecules by short linearly polarized laser pulses is analyzed. We consider the final stage of the ionization process, that is the decay of a highly excited two electron molecule, which is formed after re-scattering. The saddles of the effective adiabatic potential energy close to which simultaneous escape of electrons takes place are identified. Numerical simulations of the ionization of molecules show that the process can be dominated by either sequential or non-sequential events. In order to increase the ratio of non-sequential to sequential ionizations very short laser pulses should be applied.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, submitted to PR

Double ionization of a three-electron atom: Spin correlation effects

We study the effects of spin degrees of freedom and wave function symmetries on double ionization in three-electron systems. Each electron is assigned one spatial degree of freedom. The resulting three-dimensional Schr\"odinger equation is integrated numerically using grid-based Fourier transforms. We reveal three-electron effects on the double ionization yield by comparing signals for different ionization channels. We explain our findings by the existence of fundamental differences between three-electronic and truly two-electronic spin-resolved ionization schemes. We find, for instance, that double ionization from a three-electron system is dominated by electrons that have the opposite spin

Mean field dynamics of superfluid-insulator phase transition in a gas of ultra cold atoms

A large scale dynamical simulation of the superfluid to Mott insulator transition in the gas of ultra cold atoms placed in an optical lattice is performed using the time dependent Gutzwiller mean field approach. This approximate treatment allows us to take into account most of the details of the recent experiment [Nature 415, 39 (2002)] where by changing the depth of the lattice potential an adiabatic transition from a superfluid to a Mott insulator state has been reported. Our simulations reveal a significant excitation of the system with a transition to insulator in restricted regions of the trap.Comment: final version, correct Fig.7 (the published version contains wrong fig.7 by mistake

Non-sequential double ionization of molecules in a strong laser field

We consider the final stage of double ionization of $\rm O_2$ molecules by short linearly polarized laser pulses. The saddles of the effective adiabatic potential energy close to which simultaneous escape of electrons from a molecule takes place are identified. The analysis of the saddles and numerical simulations of the ionization indicate that to observe clear signatures of simultaneous electron escape in double ionization of $\rm O_2$ molecules stronger and much shorter laser pulses than those used in the recent experiment [E. Eremina, {\it et al}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 92}, 173001 (2004)] should be applied.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Conference proceedings from 13th International Laser Physics Workshop, Triest, Italy, July 12-16, 200

Restricted space ab initio models for double ionization by strong laser pulses

Double electron ionisation process occurs when an intense laser pulse interacts with atoms or molecules. Exact {\it ab initio} numerical simulation of such a situation is extremely computer resources demanding, thus often one is forced to apply reduced dimensionality models to get insight into the physics of the process. The performance of several algorithms for simulating double electron ionization by strong femtosecond laser pulses are studied. The obtained ionization yields and the momentum distributions of the released electrons are compared, and the effects of the model dimensionality on the ionization dynamics discussed