1,203 research outputs found
Coherent states and the reconstruction of pure spin states
Coherent states provide an appealing method to reconstruct efficiently the pure state of a quantum mechanical spin s. A Stern-Gerlach apparatus is used to measure (4s + 1) expectations of projection operators on appropriate coherent states in the unknown state. These measurements are compatible with a finite number of states which can be distinguished, in the generic case, by measuring one more probability. In addition, the present technique shows that the zeros of a Husimi distribution do have an operational meaning: they can be identified directly by measurements with a Stem-Gerlach apparatus. This result comes down to saying that it is possible to resolve experimentally structures in quantum phase space which are smaller than (h) over bar
An Algorithmic Test for Diagonalizability of Finite-Dimensional PT-Invariant Systems
A non-Hermitean operator does not necessarily have a complete set of
eigenstates, contrary to a Hermitean one. An algorithm is presented which
allows one to decide whether the eigenstates of a given PT-invariant operator
on a finite-dimensional space are complete or not. In other words, the
algorithm checks whether a given PT-symmetric matrix is diagonalizable. The
procedure neither requires to calculate any single eigenvalue nor any numerical
approximation.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur
On the Impossibility to Extend Triples of Mutually Unbiased Product Bases in Dimension Six
An analytic proof is given which shows that it is impossible to extend any
triple of mutually unbiased (MU) product bases in dimension six by a single MU
vector. Furthermore, the 16 states obtained by removing two orthogonal states
from any MU product triple cannot figure in a (hypothetical) complete set of
seven MU bases. These results follow from exploiting the structure of MU
product bases in a novel fashion, and they are among the strongest ones
obtained for MU bases in dimension six without recourse to computer algebra.Comment: 12 pages, identical to published versio
Minimal Informationally Complete Measurements for Pure States
We consider measurements, described by a positive-operator-valued measure
(POVM), whose outcome probabilities determine an arbitrary pure state of a
D-dimensional quantum system. We call such a measurement a pure-state
informationally complete (PSI-complete) POVM. We show that a measurement with
2D-1 outcomes cannot be PSI-complete, and then we construct a POVM with 2D
outcomes that suffices, thus showing that a minimal PSI-complete POVM has 2D
outcomes. We also consider PSI-complete POVMs that have only rank-one POVM
elements and construct an example with 3D-2 outcomes, which is a generalization
of the tetrahedral measurement for a qubit. The question of the minimal number
of elements in a rank-one PSI-complete POVM is left open.Comment: 2 figures, submitted for the Asher Peres festschrif
Structure of nonlinear gauge transformations
Nonlinear Doebner-Goldin [Phys. Rev. A 54, 3764 (1996)] gauge transformations
(NGT) defined in terms of a wave function do not form a group. To get
a group property one has to consider transformations that act differently on
different branches of the complex argument function and the knowledge of the
value of is not sufficient for a well defined NGT. NGT that are well
defined in terms of form a semigroup parametrized by a real number
and a nonzero which is either an integer or . An extension of NGT to projectors and general density matrices
leads to NGT with complex . Both linearity of evolution and Hermiticity
of density matrices are gauge dependent properties.Comment: Final version, to be published in Phys.Rev.A (Rapid Communication),
April 199
Integrability and level crossing manifolds in a quantum Hamiltonian system
We consider a two-spin model, represented classically by a nonlinear
autonomous Hamiltonian system with two degrees of freedom and a nontrivial
integrability condition, and quantum mechanically by a real symmetric
Hamiltonian matrix with blocks of dimensionalities K=l(l+1)/2, l=1,2,... In the
six-dimensional (6D) parameter space of this model, classical integrability is
satisfied on a 5D hypersurface, and level crossings occur on 4D manifolds that
are completely embedded in the integrability hypersurface except for some
lower-D sub-manifolds. Under mild assumptions, the classical integrability
condition can be reconstructed from a purely quantum mechanical study of level
degeneracies in finite-dimensional invariant blocks of the Hamiltonian matrix.
Our conclusions are based on rigorous results for K=3 and on numerical results
for K=6,10.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
Quantum diagonalization of Hermitean matrices
To measure an observable of a quantum mechanical system leaves it in one of its eigenstates and the result of the measurement is one of its eigenvalues. This process is shown to be a computational resource: Hermitean (N ×N) matrices can be diagonalized, in principle, by performing appropriate quantum mechanical measurements. To do so, one considers the given matrix as an observable of a single spin with appropriate length s which can be measured using a generalized Stern-Gerlach apparatus. Then, each run provides one eigenvalue of the observable. As the underlying working principle is the `collapse of the wavefunction' associated with a measurement, the procedure is neither a digital nor an analogue calculation - it defines thus a new example of a quantum mechanical method of computation
A quantum search for zeros of polynomials
A quantum mechanical search procedure to determine the real zeros of a polynomial is introduced. It is based on the construction of a spin observable whose eigenvalues coincide with the zeros of the polynomial. Subsequent quantum mechanical measurements of the observable output directly the numerical values of the zeros. Performing the measurements is the only computational resource involved
Discrete Moyal-type representations for a spin
In Moyal’s formulation of quantum mechanics, a quantum spin s is described in terms of continuous symbols, i.e., by smooth functions on a two-dimensional sphere. Such prescriptions to associate operators with Wigner functions, P or Q symbols, are conveniently expressed in terms of operator kernels satisfying the Stratonovich-Weyl postulates. In analogy to this approach, a discrete Moyal formalism is defined on the basis of a modified set of postulates. It is shown that appropriately modified postulates single out a well-defined set of kernels that give rise to discrete symbols. Now operators are represented by functions taking values on (2s+1)2 points of the sphere. The discrete symbols contain no redundant information, contrary to the continuous ones. The properties of the resulting discrete Moyal formalism for a quantum spin are worked out in detail and compared to the continuous formalism
How to Test for Diagonalizability: The Discretized PT-Invariant Square-Well Potential
Given a non-hermitean matrix M, the structure of its minimal polynomial
encodes whether M is diagonalizable or not. This note will explain how to
determine the minimal polynomial of a matrix without going through its
characteristic polynomial. The approach is applied to a quantum mechanical
particle moving in a square well under the influence of a piece-wise constant
PT-symmetric potential. Upon discretizing the configuration space, the system
is decribed by a matrix of dimension three. It turns out not to be
diagonalizable for a critical strength of the interaction, also indicated by
the transition of two real into a pair of complex energy eigenvalues. The
systems develops a three-fold degenerate eigenvalue, and two of the three
eigenfunctions disappear at this exceptional point, giving a difference between
the algebraic and geometric multiplicity of the eigenvalue equal to two.Comment: 5 page
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