The joys of permutation symmetry: direct measurements of entanglement

So-called direct measurements of entanglement are collective measurements on multiple copies of a (bipartite or multipartite) quantum system that directly provide one a value for some entanglement measure, such as the concurrence for bipartite states. Multiple copies are needed since the entanglement of a mixed state is not a linear function of the density matrix. Unfortunately, so far all experimental implementations of direct measurements made unverified assumptions about the form of the states, and, therefore, do not qualify as entanglement verification tests. I discuss how a direct measurement can be turned into a quantitative entanglement verification test by exploiting a recent theorem by Renner (R. Renner, Nature Physics 3, 645 (2007)).Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Quantum phase transitions in fully connected spin models: an entanglement perspective

We consider a set of fully connected spins models that display first- or second-order transitions and for which we compute the ground-state entanglement in the thermodynamical limit. We analyze several entanglement measures (concurrence, R\'enyi entropy, and negativity), and show that, in general, discontinuous transitions lead to a jump of these quantities at the transition point. Interestingly, we also find examples where this is not the case.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, published versio

Creation and Manipulation of Anyons in the Kitaev Model

We analyze the effect of local spin operators in the Kitaev model on the honeycomb lattice. We show, in perturbation around the isolated-dimer limit, that they create Abelian anyons together with fermionic excitations which are likely to play a role in experiments. We derive the explicit form of the operators creating and moving Abelian anyons without creating fermions and show that it involves multi-spin operations. Finally, the important experimental constraints stemming from our results are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, published versio

Atmospheric turbulence in phase-referenced and wide-field interferometric images: Application to the SKA

Phase referencing is a standard calibration procedure in radio interferometry. It allows to detect weak sources by using quasi-simultaneous observations of closeby sources acting as calibrators. Therefore, it is assumed that, for each antenna, the optical paths of the signals from both sources are similar. However, atmospheric turbulence may introduce strong differences in the optical paths of the signals and affect, or even waste, phase referencing for cases of relatively large calibrator-to-target separations and/or bad weather. The situation is similar in wide-field observations, since the random deformations of the images, mostly caused by atmospheric turbulence, have essentially the same origin as the random astrometric variations of phase-referenced sources with respect to the phase center of their calibrators. In this paper, we present the results of a Monte Carlo study of the astrometric precision and sensitivity of an interferometric array (a realization of the Square Kilometre Array, SKA) in phase-referenced and wide-field observations. These simulations can be extrapolated to other arrays by applying the corresponding corrections. We consider several effects from the turbulent atmosphere (i.e., ionosphere and wet component of the troposphere) and also from the antenna receivers. We study the changes in dynamic range and astrometric precision as a function of observing frequency, source separation, and strength of the turbulence. We find that, for frequencies between 1 and 10 GHz, it is possible to obtain images with high fidelity, although the atmosphere strongly limits the sensitivity of the instrument compared to the case with no atmosphere. Outside this frequency window, the dynamic range of the images and the accuracy of the source positions decrease. [...] (Incomplete abstract. Please read manuscript.)Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

Pairing of Cooper Pairs in a Fully Frustrated Josephson Junction Chain

We study a one-dimensional Josephson junction chain embedded in a magnetic field. We show that when the magnetic flux per elementary loop equals half the superconducting flux quantum $\phi_0=h/2e$, a local \nbZ_2 symmetry arises. This symmetry is responsible for a nematic Luttinger liquid state associated to bound states of Cooper pairs. We analyze the phase diagram and we discuss some experimental possibilities to observe this exotic phase.Comment: 4 pages, 4 EPS figure

Optimal estimation of two-qubit pure-state entanglement

We present optimal measuring strategies for the estimation of the entanglement of unknown two-qubit pure states and of the degree of mixing of unknown single-qubit mixed states, of which N identical copies are available. The most general measuring strategies are considered in both situations, to conclude in the first case that a local, although collective, measurement suffices to estimate entanglement, a non-local property, optimally.Comment: REVTEX, 9 pages, 1 figur