The quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the square lattice

The pure-quantum self-consistent harmonic approximation, a semiclassical method based on the path-integral formulation of quantum statistical mechanics, is applied to the study of the thermodynamic behaviour of the quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the square lattice (QHAF). Results for various properties are obtained for different values of the spin and successfully compared with experimental data.Comment: Proceedings of the Conference "Path Integrals from peV to TeV - 50 Years from Feynman's paper" (Florence, August 1998) -- 2 pages, ReVTeX, 2 figure

Optimal dynamics for quantum-state and entanglement transfer through homogeneous quantum wires

It is shown that effective quantum-state and entanglement transfer can be obtained by inducing a coherent dynamics in quantum wires with homogeneous intrawire interactions. This goal is accomplished by tuning the coupling between the wire endpoints and the two qubits there attached, to an optimal value. A general procedure to determine such value is devised, and scaling laws between the optimal coupling and the length of the wire are found. The procedure is implemented in the case of a wire consisting of a spin-1/2 XY chain: results for the time dependence of the quantities which characterize quantum-state and entanglement transfer are found of extremely good quality and almost independent of the wire length. The present approach does not require `ad hoc' engineering of the intrawire interactions nor a specific initial pulse shaping, and can be applied to a vast class of quantum channels.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Spectral shapes of solid neon

We present a Path Integral Monte Carlo calculation of the first three moments of the displacement-displacement correlation functions of solid neon at different temperatures for longitudinal and transverse phonon modes. The Lennard-Jones potential is considered. The relevance of the quantum effects on the frequency position of the peak and principally on the line-width of the spectral shape is clearly pointed out. The spectrum is reconstructed via a continued fraction expansion; the approximations introduced using the effective potential quantum molecular dynamics are discussed.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, 3 table

Using the J1-J2 Quantum Spin Chain as an Adiabatic Quantum Data Bus

This paper investigates numerically a phenomenon which can be used to transport a single q-bit down a J1-J2 Heisenberg spin chain using a quantum adiabatic process. The motivation for investigating such processes comes from the idea that this method of transport could potentially be used as a means of sending data to various parts of a quantum computer made of artificial spins, and that this method could take advantage of the easily prepared ground state at the so called Majumdar-Ghosh point. We examine several annealing protocols for this process and find similar result for all of them. The annealing process works well up to a critical frustration threshold.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures (2 added), revisions made to add citations and additional discussion at request of referee

Long quantum channels for high-quality entanglement transfer

High-quality quantum-state and entanglement transfer can be achieved in an unmodulated spin bus operating in the ballistic regime, which occurs when the endpoint qubits A and B are coupled to the chain by an exchange interaction $j_0$ comparable with the intrachain exchange. Indeed, the transition amplitude characterizing the transfer quality exhibits a maximum for a finite optimal value $j_0^{opt}(N)$, where $N$ is the channel length. We show that $j_0^{opt}(N)$ scales as $N^{-1/6}$ for large $N$ and that it ensures a high-quality entanglement transfer even in the limit of arbitrarily long channels, almost independently of the channel initialization. For instance, the average quantum-state transmission fidelity exceeds 90% for any chain length. We emphasize that, taking the reverse point of view, should $j_0$ be experimentally constrained, high-quality transfer can still be obtained by adjusting the channel length to its optimal value.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure

Quantum fluctuations in one-dimensional arrays of condensates

The effects of quantum and thermal fluctuations upon the fringe structure predicted to be observable in the momentum distribution of coupled Bose-Einstein condensates are studied by the effective-potential method. For a double-well trap, the coherence factor recently introduced by Pitaevskii and Stringari [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 180402 (2001)] is calculated using the effective potential approach and is found in good agreement with their result. The calculations are extended to the case of a one-dimensional array of condensates, showing that quantum effects are essentially described through a simple renormalization of the energy scale in the classical analytical expression for the fringe structure. The consequences for the experimental observability are discussed.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 5 eps figures (published version with updated references

Quantum thermodynamics of systems with anomalous dissipative coupling

The standard {\em system-plus-reservoir} approach used in the study of dissipative systems can be meaningfully generalized to a dissipative coupling involving the momentum, instead of the coordinate: the corresponding equation of motion differs from the Langevin equation, so this is called {\em anomalous} dissipation. It occurs for systems where such coupling can indeed be derived from the physical analysis of the degrees of freedom which can be treated as a dissipation bath. Starting from the influence functional corresponding to anomalous dissipation, it is shown how to derive the effective classical potential that gives the quantum thermal averages for the dissipative system in terms of classical-like calculations; the generalization to many degrees of freedom is given. The formalism is applied to a single particle in a double-well and to the discrete $\phi^4$ model. At variance with the standard case, the fluctuations of the coordinate are enhanced by anomalous dissipative coupling.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.