Symmetrizing Evolutions

We introduce quantum procedures for making $\cal G$-invariant the dynamics of an arbitrary quantum system S, where $\cal G$ is a finite group acting on the space state of S. Several applications of this idea are discussed. In particular when S is a N-qubit quantum computer interacting with its environment and $\cal G$ the symmetric group of qubit permutations, the resulting effective dynamics admits noiseless subspaces. Moreover it is shown that the recently introduced iterated-pulses schemes for reducing decoherence in quantum computers fit in this general framework. The noise-inducing component of the Hamiltonian is filtered out by the symmetrization procedure just due to its transformation properties.Comment: Presentation improved, to appear in Phys. Lett. A. 5 pages LaTeX, no figure

Bures metric over thermal state manifolds and quantum criticality

We analyze the Bures metric over the manifold of thermal density matrices for systems featuring a zero temperature quantum phase transition. We show that the quantum critical region can be characterized in terms of the temperature scaling behavior of the metric tensor itself. Furthermore, the analysis of the metric tensor when both temperature and an external field are varied, allows to complement the understanding of the phase diagram including cross-over regions which are not characterized by any singular behavior. These results provide a further extension of the scope of the metric approach to quantum criticality.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, LaTeX problems fixed, references adde