602 research outputs found
What is a quantum simulator?
Quantum simulators are devices that actively use quantum effects to answer
questions about model systems and, through them, real systems. Here we expand
on this definition by answering several fundamental questions about the nature
and use of quantum simulators. Our answers address two important areas. First,
the difference between an operation termed simulation and another termed
computation. This distinction is related to the purpose of an operation, as
well as our confidence in and expectation of its accuracy. Second, the
threshold between quantum and classical simulations. Throughout, we provide a
perspective on the achievements and directions of the field of quantum
simulation.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure
Probing the dynamic structure factor of a neutral Fermi superfluid along the BCS-BEC crossover using atomic impurity qubits
We study an impurity atom trapped by an anharmonic potential, immersed within
a cold atomic Fermi gas with attractive interactions that realizes the
crossover from a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superfluid to a Bose-Einstein
condensate (BEC). Considering the qubit comprising the lowest two vibrational
energy eigenstates of the impurity, we demonstrate that its dynamics probes the
equilibrium density fluctuations encoded in the dynamic structure factor of the
superfluid. Observing the impurity's evolution is thus shown to facilitate
nondestructive measurements of the superfluid order parameter and the contact
between collective and single-particle excitation spectra. Our setup
constitutes a novel model of an open quantum system interacting with a thermal
reservoir, the latter supporting both bosonic and fermionic excitations that
are also coupled to each other.Comment: Updated to final author version. 9+7 pages, 18 figure
Creation of effective magnetic fields in optical lattices: The Hofstadter butterfly for cold neutral atoms
We investigate the dynamics of neutral atoms in a 2D optical lattice which
traps two distinct internal states of the atoms in different columns. Two Raman
lasers are used to coherently transfer atoms from one internal state to the
other, thereby causing hopping between the different columns. By adjusting the
laser parameters appropriately we can induce a non vanishing phase of particles
moving along a closed path on the lattice. This phase is proportional to the
enclosed area and we thus simulate a magnetic flux through the lattice. This
setup is described by a Hamiltonian identical to the one for electrons on a
lattice subject to a magnetic field and thus allows us to study this equivalent
situation under very well defined controllable conditions. We consider the
limiting case of huge magnetic fields -- which is not experimentally accessible
for electrons in metals -- where a fractal band structure, the Hofstadter
butterfly, characterizes the system.Comment: 6 pages, RevTe
Two-way interconversion of millimeter-wave and optical fields in Rydberg gases
We show that cold Rydberg gases enable an efficient six-wave mixing process
where terahertz or microwave fields are coherently converted into optical
fields and vice versa. This process is made possible by the long lifetime of
Rydberg states, the strong coupling of millimeter waves to Rydberg transitions
and by a quantum interference effect related to electromagnetically induced
transparency (EIT). Our frequency conversion scheme applies to a broad spectrum
of millimeter waves due to the abundance of transitions within the Rydberg
manifold, and we discuss two possible implementations based on focussed
terahertz beams and millimeter wave fields confined by a waveguide,
respectively. We analyse a realistic example for the interconversion of
terahertz and optical fields in rubidium atoms and find that the conversion
efficiency can in principle exceed 90\%.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures and supplementary informatio
Emergence of Artificial Photons in an Optical Lattice
We establish the theoretical feasibility of direct analog simulation of the
compact U(1) lattice gauge theories in optical lattices with dipolar bosons. We
discuss the realizability of the topological Coulomb phase in extended
Bose-Hubbard models in several optical lattice geometries. We predict the
testable signatures of this emergent phase in noise correlation measurements,
thus suggesting the possible emergence of artificial light in optical lattices.Comment: 4 pages, 2 eps figur
Regret Bounds for Reinforcement Learning with Policy Advice
In some reinforcement learning problems an agent may be provided with a set
of input policies, perhaps learned from prior experience or provided by
advisors. We present a reinforcement learning with policy advice (RLPA)
algorithm which leverages this input set and learns to use the best policy in
the set for the reinforcement learning task at hand. We prove that RLPA has a
sub-linear regret of \tilde O(\sqrt{T}) relative to the best input policy, and
that both this regret and its computational complexity are independent of the
size of the state and action space. Our empirical simulations support our
theoretical analysis. This suggests RLPA may offer significant advantages in
large domains where some prior good policies are provided
Correlated motion of two atoms trapped in a single mode cavity field
We study the motion of two atoms trapped at distant positions in the field of
a driven standing wave high-Q optical resonator. Even without any direct
atom-atom interaction the atoms are coupled through their position dependent
influence on the intracavity field. For sufficiently good trapping and low
cavity losses the atomic motion becomes significantly correlated and the two
particles oscillate in their wells preferentially with a 90 degrees relative
phase shift. The onset of correlations seriously limits cavity cooling
efficiency, raising the achievable temperature to the Doppler limit. The
physical origin of the correlation can be traced back to a cavity mediated
cross-friction, i.e. a friction force on one particle depending on the velocity
of the second particle. Choosing appropriate operating conditions allows for
engineering these long range correlations. In addition this cross-friction
effect can provide a basis for sympathetic cooling of distant trapped clouds.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A. Minor
grammatical changes to previous versio
Breathing oscillations of a trapped impurity in a Bose gas
Motivated by a recent experiment [J. Catani et al., arXiv:1106.0828v1
preprint, 2011], we study breathing oscillations in the width of a harmonically
trapped impurity interacting with a separately trapped Bose gas. We provide an
intuitive physical picture of such dynamics at zero temperature, using a
time-dependent variational approach. In the Gross-Pitaevskii regime we obtain
breathing oscillations whose amplitudes are suppressed by self trapping, due to
interactions with the Bose gas. Introducing phonons in the Bose gas leads to
the damping of breathing oscillations and non-Markovian dynamics of the width
of the impurity, the degree of which can be engineered through controllable
parameters. Our results reproduce the main features of the impurity dynamics
observed by Catani et al. despite experimental thermal effects, and are
supported by simulations of the system in the Gross-Pitaevskii regime.
Moreover, we predict novel effects at lower temperatures due to self-trapping
and the inhomogeneity of the trapped Bose gas.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Transport enhancement from incoherent coupling between one-dimensional quantum conductors
We study the non-equilibrium transport properties of a highly anisotropic
two-dimensional lattice of spin-1/2 particles governed by a Heisenberg XXZ
Hamiltonian. The anisotropy of the lattice allows us to approximate the system
at finite temperature as an array of incoherently coupled one-dimensional
chains. We show that in the regime of strong intrachain interactions, the weak
interchain coupling considerably boosts spin transport in the driven system.
Interestingly, we show that this enhancement increases with the length of the
chains, which is related to superdiffusive spin transport. We describe the
mechanism behind this effect, compare it to a similar phenomenon in single
chains induced by dephasing, and explain why the former is much stronger
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