221 research outputs found
Noisy metrology beyond the standard quantum limit
Parameter estimation is of fundamental importance in areas from atomic
spectroscopy and atomic clocks to gravitational wave detection. Entangled
probes provide a significant precision gain over classical strategies in the
absence of noise. However, recent results seem to indicate that any small
amount of realistic noise restricts the advantage of quantum strategies to an
improvement by at most a multiplicative constant. Here, we identify a relevant
scenario in which one can overcome this restriction and attain superclassical
precision scaling even in the presence of uncorrelated noise. We show that
precision can be significantly enhanced when the noise is concentrated along
some spatial direction, while the Hamiltonian governing the evolution which
depends on the parameter to be estimated can be engineered to point along a
different direction. In the case of perpendicular orientation, we find
superclassical scaling and identify a state which achieves the optimum.Comment: Erroneous expressions with inconsistent units have been corrected. 5
pages, 3 figures + Appendi
Feasibility of loophole-free nonlocality tests with a single photon
Recently much interest has been directed towards designing setups that
achieve realistic loss thresholds for decisive tests of local realism, in
particular in the optical regime. We analyse the feasibility of such Bell tests
based on a W-state shared between multiple parties, which can be realised for
example by a single photon shared between spatial modes. We develop a general
error model to obtain thresholds on the efficiencies required to violate local
realism, and also consider two concrete optical measurement schemes.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Markovian master equations for quantum thermal machines: local vs global approach
The study of quantum thermal machines, and more generally of open quantum
systems, often relies on master equations. Two approaches are mainly followed.
On the one hand, there is the widely used, but often criticized, local
approach, where machine sub-systems locally couple to thermal baths. On the
other hand, in the more established global approach, thermal baths couple to
global degrees of freedom of the machine. There has been debate as to which of
these two conceptually different approaches should be used in situations out of
thermal equilibrium. Here we compare the local and global approaches against an
exact solution for a particular class of thermal machines. We consider
thermodynamically relevant observables, such as heat currents, as well as the
quantum state of the machine. Our results show that the use of a local master
equation is generally well justified. In particular, for weak inter-system
coupling, the local approach agrees with the exact solution, whereas the global
approach fails for non-equilibrium situations. For intermediate coupling, the
local and the global approach both agree with the exact solution and for strong
coupling, the global approach is preferable. These results are backed by
detailed derivations of the regimes of validity for the respective approaches.Comment: Published version. See also the related work by J. Onam Gonzalez et
al. arXiv:1707.0922
Realistic loophole-free Bell test with atom-photon entanglement
The establishment of nonlocal correlations, obtained through the violation of
a Bell inequality, is not only important from a fundamental point of view, but
constitutes the basis for device-independent quantum information technologies.
Although several nonlocality tests have been performed so far, all of them
suffered from either the locality or the detection loopholes. Recent studies
have suggested that the use of atom-photon entanglement can lead to Bell
inequality violations with moderate transmission and detection efficiencies. In
this paper we propose an experimental setup realizing a simple atom-photon
entangled state that, under realistic experimental parameters available to
date, achieves a significant violation of the Clauser-Horn-Shimony-Holt
inequality. Most importantly, the violation remains when considering typical
detection efficiencies and losses due to required propagation distances.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, 3 table, to appear in Nature Com
Robust nonlocality tests with displacement-based measurements
Lately, much interest has been directed towards designing setups that achieve
decisive tests of local realism. Here we present Bell tests with measurements
based on linear optical displacements and single-photon detection. The scheme
displays good tolerance to loss. In particular, for entangled squeezed states,
we find thresholds compatible with current efficiencies of detectors and
sources. Furthermore, the scheme is easily extendible to any number of
observers, allowing observation of multipartite nonlocality for a single photon
shared among multiple modes. We also consider the case of atom-photon
entanglement, where the loss threshold can be lowered further, as well as local
filters compensating transmission and coupling inefficiencies at the source.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, significant content changes from v1, titled
update
Markovian master equations for quantum thermal machines: local versus global approach
The study of quantum thermal machines, and more generally of open quantum systems, often relies on master equations. Two approaches are mainly followed. On the one hand, there is the widely used, but often criticized, local approach, where machine sub-systems locally couple to thermal baths. On the other hand, in the more established global approach, thermal baths couple to global degrees of freedom of the machine. There has been debate as to which of these two conceptually different approaches should be used in situations out of thermal equilibrium. Here we compare the local and global approaches against an exact solution for a particular class of thermal machines. We consider thermodynamically relevant observables, such as heat currents, as well as the quantum state of the machine. Our results show that the use of a local master equation is generally well justified. In particular, for weak inter-system coupling, the local approach agrees with the exact solution, whereas the global approach fails for non-equilibrium situations. For intermediate coupling, the local and the global approach both agree with the exact solution and for strong coupling, the global approach is preferable. These results are backed by detailed derivations of the regimes of validity for the respective approaches
The second law and beyond in microscopic quantum setups
The Clausius inequality (CI) is one of the most versatile forms of the second
law. Although it was originally conceived for macroscopic steam engines, it is
also applicable to quantum single particle machines. Moreover, the CI is the
main connecting thread between classical microscopic thermodynamics and
nanoscopic quantum thermodynamics. In this chapter, we study three different
approaches for obtaining the CI. Each approach shows different aspects of the
CI. The goals of this chapter are: (i) To show the exact assumptions made in
various derivations of the CI. (ii) To elucidate the structure of the second
law and its origin. (iii) To discuss the possibilities each approach offers for
finding additional second-law like inequalities. (iv) To pose challenges
related to the second law in nanoscopic setups. In particular, we introduce and
briefly discuss the notions of exotic heat machines (X machines), and "lazy
demons".Comment: As a chapter of: F. Binder, L. A. Correa, C. Gogolin, J. Anders, and
G. Adesso (eds.), "Thermodynamics in the quantum regime - Recent Progress and
Outlook", (Springer International Publishing). v1 does not include references
to other book chapter
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