A stochastic model of the influence of buffer gas collisions on Mollow spectra

In this paper we consider the influence of collisional fluctuations on the Mollow spectra of resonance fluorescence (RF). The fluctuations are taken into account by a simple shift of the constant detuning, involved in a set of optical Bloch equations by collision frequency noise which is modelled by a two-step random telegraph signal (RTS). We consider in detail the Mollow spectra for RF in the case of an arbitrary detuning of the laser frequency, where the emitter is a member of a statistical ensemble in thermodynamic equilibrium with the buffer gas at temperature $T$ which is treated as a colored environment, and velocity $v$ is distributed with the Maxwell-Boltzmann density

Generation of nonclassical photon states using a superconducting qubit in a microcavity

Based on the interaction between the radiation field and a superconductor, we propose a way to engineer quantum states using a SQUID charge qubit inside a microcavity. This device can act as a deterministic single photon source as well as generate any Fock states and an arbitrary superposition of Fock states for the cavity field. The controllable interaction between the cavity field and the qubit can be realized by the tunable gate voltage and classical magnetic field applied to the SQUID.Comment: 4 page

Multiphoton communication in lossy channels with photon-number entangled states

We address binary and quaternary communication channels based on correlated multiphoton two-mode states of radiation in the presence of losses. The protocol are based on photon number correlations and realized upon choosing a shared set of thresholds to convert the outcome of a joint photon number measurement into a symbol from a discrete alphabet. In particular, we focus on channels build using feasible photon-number entangled states (PNES) as two-mode coherently-correlated (TMC) or twin-beam (TWB) states and compare their performances with that of channels built using feasible classically correlated (separable) states. We found that PNES provide larger channel capacity in the presence of loss, and that TWB-based channels may transmit a larger amount of information than TMC-based ones at fixed energy and overall loss. Optimized bit discrimination thresholds, as well as the corresponding maximized mutual information, are explicitly evaluated as a function of the beam intensity and the loss parameter. The propagation of TMC and TWB in lossy channels is analyzed and the joint photon number distribution is evaluated, showing that the beam statistics, either sub-Poissonian for TMC or super-Poissonian for TWB, is not altered by losses. Although entanglement is not strictly needed to establish the channels, which are based on photon-number correlations owned also by separable mixed states, purity of the support state is relevant to increase security. The joint requirement of correlation and purity individuates PNES as a suitable choice to build effective channels. The effects of losses on channel security are briefly discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 19 figure

Entanglement of bosonic modes of nonplanar molecules

Entanglement of bosonic modes of material oscillators is studied in the context of two bilinearly coupled, nonlinear oscillators. These oscillators are realizable in the vibrational-cum-bending motions of C-H bonds in dihalomethanes. The bilinear coupling gives rise to invariant subspaces in the Hilbert space of the two oscillators. The number of separable states in any invariant subspace is one more than the dimension of the space. The dynamics of the oscillators when the initial state belongs to an invariant subspace is studied. In particular, the dynamics of the system when the initial state is such that the total energy is concentrated in one of the modes is studied and compared with the evolution of the system when the initial state is such wherein the modes share the total energy. The dynamics of quantities such as entropy, mean of number of quanta in the two modes and variances in the quadratures of the two modes are studied. Possibility of generating maximally entangled states is indicated.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure

Entanglement of qubits via a nonlinear resonator

Coherent coupling of two qubits mediated by a nonlinear resonator is studied. It is shown that the amount of entanglement accessible in the evolution depends both on the strength of nonlinearity in the Hamiltonian of the resonator and on the initial preparation of the system. The created entanglement survives in the presence of decoherence.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figure

Quantifying decoherence in continuous variable systems

We present a detailed report on the decoherence of quantum states of continuous variable systems under the action of a quantum optical master equation resulting from the interaction with general Gaussian uncorrelated environments. The rate of decoherence is quantified by relating it to the decay rates of various, complementary measures of the quantum nature of a state, such as the purity, some nonclassicality indicators in phase space and, for two-mode states, entanglement measures and total correlations between the modes. Different sets of physically relevant initial configurations are considered, including one- and two-mode Gaussian states, number states, and coherent superpositions. Our analysis shows that, generally, the use of initially squeezed configurations does not help to preserve the coherence of Gaussian states, whereas it can be effective in protecting coherent superpositions of both number states and Gaussian wave packets.Comment: Review article; 36 pages, 19 figures; typos corrected, references adde