34 research outputs found
Photon-induced entanglement of distant mesoscopic SQUID rings
An experiment that involves two distant mesoscopic SQUID rings is studied.
The superconducting rings are irradiated with correlated photons, which are
produced by a single microwave source. Classically correlated (separable) and
quantum mechanically correlated (entangled) microwaves are considered, and
their effect on the Josephson currents is quantified. It is shown that the
currents tunnelling through the Josephson junctions in the distant rings, are
correlated.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures; Kluwer Academic Proceedings; presented in IV
international workshop on "Macroscopic Quantum Coherence and Computing"
(Napoli, Italy, 2004
Decoherence induced by a fluctuating Aharonov-Casher phase
Dipoles interference is studied when atomic systems are coupled to classical
electromagnetic fields. The interaction between the dipoles and the classical
fields induces a time-varying Aharonov-Casher phase. Averaging over the phase
generates a suppression of fringe visibility in the interference pattern. We
show that, for suitable experimental conditions, the loss of contrast for
dipoles can be observable and almost as large as the corresponding one for
coherent electrons. We analyze different trajectories in order to show the
dependence of the decoherence factor with the velocity of the particles.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Quantum Communication through Spin Chain Dynamics: an Introductory Overview
We present an introductory overview of the use of spin chains as quantum
wires, which has recently developed into a topic of lively interest. The
principal motivation is in connecting quantum registers without resorting to
optics. A spin chain is a permanently coupled 1D system of spins. When one
places a quantum state on one end of it, the state will be dynamically
transmitted to the other end with some efficiency if the spins are coupled by
an exchange interaction. No external modulations or measurements on the body of
the chain, except perhaps at the very ends, is required for this purpose. For
the simplest (uniformly coupled) chain and the simplest encoding (single qubit
encoding), however, dispersion reduces the quality of transfer. We present a
variety of alternatives proposed by various groups to achieve perfect quantum
state transfer through spin chains. We conclude with a brief discussion of the
various directions in which the topic is developing.Comment: Material covered till Dec 200
Circuit QED scheme for realization of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model
We propose a scheme in which the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model is realized
within a circuit QED system. An array of N superconducting qubits interacts
with a driven cavity mode. In the dispersive regime, the cavity mode is
adiabatically eliminated generating an effective model for the qubits alone.
The characteristic long-range order of the Lipkin-Meshkov-Glick model is here
mediated by the cavity field. For a closed qubit system, the inherent second
order phase transition of the qubits is reflected in the intensity of the
output cavity field. In the broken symmetry phase, the many-body ground state
is highly entangled. Relaxation of the qubits is analyzed within a mean-field
treatment. The second order phase transition is lost, while new bistable
regimes occur.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
Quantum information processing using quasiclassical electromagnetic interactions between qubits and electrical resonators
Electrical resonators are widely used in quantum information processing, by engineering an electromagnetic interaction with qubits based on real or virtual exchange of microwave photons. This interaction relies on strong coupling between the qubits' transition dipole moments and the vacuum fluctuations of the resonator in the same manner as cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), and has consequently come to be called 'circuit QED' (cQED). Great strides in the control of quantum information have already been made experimentally using this idea. However, the central role played by photon exchange induced by quantum fluctuations in cQED does result in some characteristic limitations. In this paper, we discuss an alternative method for coupling qubits electromagnetically via a resonator, in which no photons are exchanged, and where the resonator need not have strong quantum fluctuations. Instead, the interaction can be viewed in terms of classical, effective 'forces' exerted by the qubits on the resonator, and the resulting resonator dynamics used to produce qubit entanglement are purely classical in nature. We show how this type of interaction is similar to that encountered in the manipulation of atomic ion qubits, and we exploit this analogy to construct two-qubit entangling operations that are largely insensitive to thermal or other noise in the resonator, and to its quality factor. These operations are also extensible to larger numbers of qubits, allowing interactions to be selectively generated among any desired subset of those coupled to a single resonator. Our proposal is potentially applicable to a variety of physical qubit modalities, including superconducting and semiconducting solid-state qubits, trapped molecular ions, and possibly even electron spins in solids.United States. Dept. of Defense. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering (United States. Air Force Contract FA8721-05-C-0002
Probing quantum coherence in qubit arrays
We discuss how the observation of population localization effects in
periodically driven systems can be used to quantify the presence of quantum
coherence in interacting qubit arrays. Essential for our proposal is the fact
that these localization effects persist beyond tight-binding Hamiltonian
models. This result is of special practical relevance in those situations where
direct system probing using tomographic schemes becomes infeasible beyond a
very small number of qubits. As a proof of principle, we study analytically a
Hamiltonian system consisting of a chain of superconducting flux qubits under
the effect of a periodic driving. We provide extensive numerical support of our
results in the simple case of a two-qubits chain. For this system we also study
the robustness of the scheme against different types of noise and disorder. We
show that localization effects underpinned by quantum coherent interactions
should be observable within realistic parameter regimes in chains with a larger
number o
An efficient method to calculate excitation energy transfer in light harvesting systems. Application to the FMO complex
A master equation, derived from the non-Markovian quantum state diffusion
(NMQSD), is used to calculate excitation energy transfer in the photosynthetic
Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) pigment-protein complex at various temperatures.
This approach allows us to treat spectral densities that contain explicitly the
coupling to internal vibrational modes of the chromophores. Moreover, the
method is very efficient, with the result that the transfer dynamics can be
calculated within about one minute on a standard PC, making systematic
investigations w.r.t. parameter variations tractable. After demonstrating that
our approach is able to reproduce the results of the numerically exact
hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) approach, we show how the inclusion of
vibrational modes influences the transfer
Can One Trust Quantum Simulators?
Various fundamental phenomena of strongly-correlated quantum systems such as
high- superconductivity, the fractional quantum-Hall effect, and quark
confinement are still awaiting a universally accepted explanation. The main
obstacle is the computational complexity of solving even the most simplified
theoretical models that are designed to capture the relevant quantum
correlations of the many-body system of interest. In his seminal 1982 paper
[Int. J. Theor. Phys. 21, 467], Richard Feynman suggested that such models
might be solved by "simulation" with a new type of computer whose constituent
parts are effectively governed by a desired quantum many-body dynamics.
Measurements on this engineered machine, now known as a "quantum simulator,"
would reveal some unknown or difficult to compute properties of a model of
interest. We argue that a useful quantum simulator must satisfy four
conditions: relevance, controllability, reliability, and efficiency. We review
the current state of the art of digital and analog quantum simulators. Whereas
so far the majority of the focus, both theoretically and experimentally, has
been on controllability of relevant models, we emphasize here the need for a
careful analysis of reliability and efficiency in the presence of
imperfections. We discuss how disorder and noise can impact these conditions,
and illustrate our concerns with novel numerical simulations of a paradigmatic
example: a disordered quantum spin chain governed by the Ising model in a
transverse magnetic field. We find that disorder can decrease the reliability
of an analog quantum simulator of this model, although large errors in local
observables are introduced only for strong levels of disorder. We conclude that
the answer to the question "Can we trust quantum simulators?" is... to some
extent.Comment: 20 pages. Minor changes with respect to version 2 (some additional
explanations, added references...