Determinants of Block Tridiagonal Matrices

An identity is proven that evaluates the determinant of a block tridiagonal matrix with (or without) corners as the determinant of the associated transfer matrix (or a submatrix of it).Comment: 8 pages, final form. To appear on Linear Algebra and its Application

Hedin's equations and enumeration of Feynman's diagrams

Hedin's equations are solved perturbatively in zero dimension to count Feynman graphs for self-energy, polarization, propagator, effective potential and vertex function in a many-body theory of fermions with two-body interaction. Counting numbers are also obtained in the GW approximation.Comment: Revised published version, 3 pages, no figure

Trihamiltonian extensions of separable systems in the plane

A method to construct trihamiltonian extensions of a separable system is presented. The procedure is tested for systems, with a natural Hamiltonian, separable in classical sense in one of the four orthogonal separable coordinate systems of the Euclidean plane, and some explicit examples are constructed. Finally a conjecture on possible generalizations to other classes of systems is discussed: in particular, the method can be easily adapted to the eleven orthogonal separable coordinate sets of the Euclidean three-space.Comment: 20 page

Optimal efficiency of quantum transport in a disordered trimer

Disordered quantum networks, as those describing light-harvesting complexes, are often characterized by the presence of peripheral ring-like structures, where the excitation is initialized, and inner reaction centers (RC), where the excitation is trapped. The peripheral rings display coherent features: their eigenstates can be separated in the two classes of superradiant and subradiant states. Both are important to optimize transfer efficiency. In the absence of disorder, superradiant states have an enhanced coupling strength to the RC, while the subradiant ones are basically decoupled from it. Static on-site disorder induces a coupling between subradiant and superradiant states, creating an indirect coupling to the RC. The problem of finding the optimal transfer conditions, as a function of both the RC energy and the disorder strength, is very complex even in the simplest network, namely a three-level system. In this paper we analyze such trimeric structure choosing as initial condition a subradiant state, rather than the more common choice of an excitation localized on a site. We show that, while the optimal disorder is of the order of the superradiant coupling, the optimal detuning between the initial state and the RC energy strongly depends on system parameters: when the superradiant coupling is much larger than the energy gap between the superradiant and the subradiant levels, optimal transfer occurs if the RC energy is at resonance with the subradiant initial state, whereas we find an optimal RC energy at resonance with a virtual dressed state when the superradiant coupling is smaller than or comparable with the gap. The presence of dynamical noise, which induces dephasing and decoherence, affects the resonance structure of energy transfer producing an additional 'incoherent' resonance peak, which corresponds to the RC energy being equal to the energy of the superradiant state.Comment: This article shares part of the introduction and most of Section II with arXiv:1508.01613, the remaining parts of the two articles treat different problem

A size criterion for macroscopic superposition states

An operational measure to quantify the sizes of some ``macroscopic quantum superpositions'', realized in recent experiments, is proposed. The measure is based on the fact that a superposition presents greater sensitivity in interferometric applications than its superposed constituent states. This enhanced sensitivity, or ``interference utility'', may then be used as a size criterion among superpositions.Comment: LaTeX2e-REVTeX4, 9 pages, 3 figures. V2: introduction and discussion slightly altere